


London Falling

by hawaiigal52



Category: Ugly Betty
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-22
Updated: 2014-03-30
Packaged: 2018-01-16 14:52:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 49,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1351501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hawaiigal52/pseuds/hawaiigal52
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A/N: This is going to be an AU version of season 4. This one is taken from 'London Calling'. Betty and the ladies are at the bar, and she has just joined them, unaware of their drinking game secret word. I'm adding my own little twist to this.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Ch 1-4

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty or its characters. This is for entertainment purposes only.

****************************************************************  
"Betty, come on! Drink up! You need to catch up to us."

Betty drank a large gulp of her Guinness, seeing her wedding party was already quite blitzed. She winced at the strong drink, "Well, you're right, ladies. I've been working too hard since I've been here. But, I've just got a few more shows to take notes on, then I'll be all done with work."

"Work!" they all laughed, drinking each time she said the 'magic word'. She caught on, laughing, too, and rolling her eyes.

"Okay, okay! I get it. You got me. I need to stop working so much and have fun! Oops! WORK!" They all giggled hysterically and Betty drank with them.

After another hour or so, she had almost caught up to their level of inebriation. Hilda surveyed the crowd, seeing several good-looking groups of young professional men. "I say, we do truth or dare. I dare you to go flash that group of guys over there!"

"Ooh, I'll do it!" Amanda got up and walked to the men, throwing open her shirt to reveal her bra, "WOOOO, London Bridges falling down, govnahs!"

Everyone at Betty's table laughed hysterically at her antics. The men she had flashed cheered and laughed. She came back, and sat back down, taking another drink, then turned to Betty, "You're turn, Betty. Go on, I dare you!"

Betty was drunk, but…not that drunk. "Sure, Amanda! I don't think so."  
Christina and Hilda nudged her, encouraging her to 'let loose'. 

Christina took a drink, "Come on, Betty. Let your hair down for once, darlin! You work, work, work yourself silly. You've got to have F-U-N, once in a while, or else what's life for, eh?"

They all drank three times, "Work, Work, WORK!" Betty tried valiantly to keep up. She hiccupped and steeled herself, taking one more shot for courage, "Okay, okay! Fine!"

Hilda noticed a few men at the bar, one who had just ordered a drink, sitting down. She could only see the back of his head, but he looked to be dressed well and handsome from what she could tell.

She pointed Betty in his direction, "See, that guy over there; he just got here. Go flash him! I command it, as your Queen!" She giggled.

Betty shook her head, smiling and rolled her eyes, "Well, if Queen Hilda commands it!" She somewhat nervously came up to the man, and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Sir? Uh…" She hesitated, but heard Amanda yell, "Come on, Betty, show him your Mayan Temples!"

Betty closed her eyes and winced, throwing open her blouse to reveal her bra.

"Betty?!" Her eyes grew huge when she opened her eyes and saw Daniel standing there, smirking at her. She quickly closed her shirt keeping her arms across her breasts.

"Daniel! What are you doing here?"

He shrugged, still seemingly in shock at her display, "Uh, I kind of messed things up with Tyler, so I thought I'd come and check out the end of Fashion Week, maybe let you uh...have a little more free time with your sister. But I see you're managing to squeeze in some fun along with your work."

"WORK!" The girls all drank, giggling even more as they saw it was Daniel Betty had flashed. He laughed and held up his drink to take a sip.

"Uh, care to join me? I was planning on just having one drink then checking out the London Eye or something. Or are you too busy with the girls?"

Betty turned to the table, seeing they were all laughing and talking, she was beet red, and shrugged, "Thanks, but…I should probably stay with Hilda. It is her wedding party." 

Hilda had heard her and pulled her away,  
"Betty! Don't be stupid. You're here, he's here. Go have some fun! I'll be fine. Go!"

"With Daniel? It's embarrassing, Hilda! I just flashed my boss!"

"Yeah, you're smoking hot boss who came here to keep you from wasting all your time working! So…go show him the sights. He's already seen two pretty good ones!"

She grinned, as Betty hit her arm, "Hilda!"

"I command it, as your Queen! Go have a good time with Daniel, Betty!"

Daniel, of course, heard everything she had said. He bowed his head, and took another drink, "Thank you, Queen Hilda! Long live the Queen!"

Betty sighed, shrugging as she got her coat from the table. "Ooh, B, have fun with Daniel! Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"   
Amanda purred.  
"Well, that doesn't exclude much, does it?" Christina laughed.

Daniel held out his arm, and Betty bit her lip, nervously, trying   
to think of a way to forget her earlier lunacy. As they walked in the golden glow of the London streets, Daniel finally said, "So! Nice uh…bra! Did you get that at one of the shows here?"

She blushed and laughed, "Oh, God, Daniel, can we please forget I did that?"

He smiled, and Betty wondered if the red in his cheeks was totally from the cold air. "I'm trying, but I don't think I really can, Betty. You've been…hiding a lot all these years, it seems." He laughed as she blushed even more.

"Daniel! Please, I'm embarrassed enough as it is. Let's talk about something else. You said things didn't go so well with Tyler?"

He shook his head, "No. Not at all. It seems he's an alcoholic. And yours truly did a really stupid thing by listening to Wilhelmina and getting him drunk. I didn't know he had a drinking problem.

He didn't mention it and of course, I offered him a sort of…pay off, which set him off and he hit me and I hit him back and, well, Mom had to come bail me out of jail."

"You offered him a bribe to what, disappear? Why would you do that, Daniel? What possessed you to listen to Wilhelmina?"

He shrugged, "I don't know, Betty. Sometimes you listen to people when you shouldn't. Hey, no judging from Miss Big Boobs, here." He chuckled.

She hit his arm, "HEY!" but laughed. "Okay, point taken. But, that's terrible, Daniel."

"Oh, but it gets worse. I also mentioned to Tyler something about Cal being his dad. Unfortunately, Mom said she hadn't exactly told him about that, because she swore to Cal she wouldn't let Tyler know who his father really was so she made up some lie about meeting his father in rehab. Now he knows Mom has been lying to him all this time."

"Oh, wow! I'm really sorry, Daniel. But, hey, at least you and your mom are talking again, huh?"

He smiled, shaking his head, "Of course, you would find a way to put a positive spin on it." They had arrived at the London Eye. He escorted her on, and once they were inside, they both looked down at the city below.

Betty leaned forward, mesmerized at the sight, "Wow! It's so amazing! It's enough like New York to be familiar, so it's sort of like you're seeing something you already know and love, but are just looking at it from a completely different perspective and seeing how really beautiful it is, you know?"

He watched Betty, smiling at the rosy glow on her cheeks from the chilly London air and nodded, "Yeah, I know exactly what you mean, Betty."

She kept looking out the glass pod at the view. He, on the other hand, was looking at her, from a 'completely different perspective' and seeing how really beautiful she was. He smiled, shoving his hands deep in the pockets of his coat.

She turned, noticing his action, "Where are your gloves? Aren't your hands cold? It's freezing, Daniel!"

He shrugged, "I think I forgot them. I'll get some others while I'm here."

"But you're so picky about your gloves. I'll run over to Harrods and get you some tomorrow. Oh, I have…uh; I'll get you some as soon as I can. I think I have an extra pair." She started to dig in the pocket of her pretty new red coat.

He stepped closer, adjusting her scarf around her neck, fondly, as he smiled at her, trying to 'take care of him'.

"Betty, you're hands are like half the size of mine, they'd never fit. But, thanks. I'll get some myself. You don't have to take care of me, all the time, you know. You're not my assistant any more, Betty."

"I know. I just…worry about you, Daniel."

"Well, thank you. I appreciate it. But, I'm fine, really."

"Are you? You never date. I mean, I know you've had that little 'arrangement' with Amanda since the Bahamas, but…I really think."

"She likes Tyler? Yeah, I got that, too, Betty. It's fine. I knew going into it, it wasn't anything permanent for either of us. It was just to get me to stop moping around after Molly died. But I admit, it sort of bothers me that she's seeing HIM."

"Don't be such a baby, Daniel. Tyler's had a rough time, too. And that doesn't mean I'm not on 'Team Daniel', okay? I am. Always."

"I know, Betty." He looked into her eyes, as he continued holding her by her shoulders. "I know."

They both stared at one another for what seemed like an eternity, and finally, he lowered his head, clearing his throat. "Uh, you look…nice, Betty. Really pretty tonight."

She blushed, lowering her head, as well, "Thanks."

He smirked, unable to resist teasing her, mainly because she was so damned adorable when she was embarrassed, he realized, "Yeah, you should really consider showing off those Mayan Temples of yours a bit more often. You'd definitely get more dates."

She hit him, "Daniel! Stop it!"

He laughed at first, but the pod had stopped and the view was breathtaking. He looked at her, her face so flushed and lovely.  
He took her glasses off and held her face in his hands, admiring her. 

"You know…you've really grown into quite a woman, Betty. I always told you that you were beautiful. I was right; you are. Really beautiful."

Chapter 2: Chapter 2

London Falling  
A/N: This next chapter was a little bit of a departure for me, the 'dialogue' girl that I tend to be; since much of the 'action' doesn't require any dialogue. Still, I think you might enjoy it. Not as much as they do, of course.

Betty looked up at him, her heart beating wildly. Was it her imagination, or was Daniel Meade actually coming on to her? Or perhaps she was still drunker than she realized?

He was looking at her as if he intended to kiss her!

"Betty..." he leaned down, closer to her, but the pod jerked, causing him to lose his balance slightly and fall on top of her, against the side of the glass.

"Sorry! Are you okay?" He scrambled off her and stood a bit further away this time, "Here." He handed her back her glasses and smiled, brushing a strand of hair from her face.

"Uh, that was scary, wasn't it?"

"What, you mean the stopping and starting… or me?" he smirked slightly.

"You?" she took a breath, straightening her scarf, trying to pretend she didn't know what he was talking about.

He seemed to be determined to give her a hard time tonight. "Yeah, you know, Betty. Since I almost kissed you before the pod started again."

"You did?"

"Well…yeah. I took off your glasses and looked at you and told you how beautiful you were, those sort of ARE all signs that a guy wants to kiss you, you know. Are you going to tell me you didn't notice?"

She seemed dumbfounded at his bluntness. She was the one who had had too much to drink after all. Maybe he had been drinking a bit on the plane, she thought.

"Are you okay? You seem…sort of different, Daniel."

He smirked, "Well, sorry, Betty. Maybe I get that way when my friend of four years flashes me at a bar in London!

You know, you're lucky it WAS me, what if I had been some creepy stranger? I could have just as easily been an axe murderer or…Jack the ripper or a sex pervert or something."

She smiled, "Well…"

"Shut up! Okay, fine, maybe I am a sex pervert, but I'm not the one running around exposing myself to strangers here, flashy McFlasherson."

She giggled, "What did you just call me? Flashy, huh?"

He laughed, too, "Yeah. I can't you believe you did that, Betty."

"I'm sorry I bothered you so much, Daniel." She was a bit angry at him for 'yelling' at her.

She couldn't tell if he was angry now or simply confused, "Yeah, it did bother me, it bothered me a lot. You bother me. You're always telling me when I'm messing up, and you, now you…you go around, getting drunk in bars in a foreign country and flashing strange men and… and now you're being all…pretty."

She didn't know how to respond to that! At first, he seemed to possibly be teasing her, but then he actually acted upset, as he ran one hand through his hair during his little rant, and rubbed the back of his neck with the other.

"Daniel, I don't…you know I don't normally drink this much. And as far as flashing strange guys, I promise you this is the first time it's ever happened. I've never done anything like that before."

He cleared his throat again, "Yeah, well, I uh, should hope so. It could be dangerous."

She couldn't resist giving him a bit of a jab, since he seemed hell-bent on making her feel like the village tramp right now, "You mean, because I could have attracted Jack-the-ripper, or because I seem to have attracted a known sex pervert like YOU?"

He laughed, "Touché, Betty. Sorry, you're right. I've got no right to lecture you like that. I guess you're young, and single, you're entitled to let loose, and act silly once in a while."

"Especially since I have my guardian angel from New York here to make sure I don't get hurt." She smiled.

He nodded and smiled back at her, "That's right. That's me, Betty. You're very own guardian angel."

Oh my God, you big goof, just kiss her; you know you are dying to taste those big, gorgeous lips! What the hell is WRONG with you?She's your friend, she's had too much to drink, she may not freak out tonight because of that, but tomorrow…it might get weird between the two of you.  
Especially if it leads to something…no…come on, get your mind out of the gutter. Just because she has the most insane breasts you've ever seen, it's BETTY, for God's sake! Betty!

While Daniel battled his inner demons, Betty was having her own struggle. She had never drunk Guinness before. Since she wasn't much of a drinker to begin with, the alcohol seemed to be having a very strange effect on her.

Although she outwardly had been able to maintain some semblance of a normal conversation with Daniel this whole time, it was if her 'inner self' was still intoxicated, and acting like an errant child, begging for attention.

Her 'child' had been screaming at her, especially since the 'almost kiss'had been aborted due to the ride starting up again. Inside her head, it felt as if she was having an argument between 'child Betty' and her normal, adult self.

He almost kissed you, you big goof! Daniel almost kissed you and now, you're going to talk him out of it! You got his attention before, do it again!

She tried to 'reason' with her inner child that there was no way in the world she was going to flash him again. She simply wasn't THAT drunk, no matter how tempted she was to act irrationally, that wasn't in her nature.

Besides, they were in a public place…that would be insane!

Although, it was a public place far above anywhere that the public could actually see…

But her 'child' couldn't convince her to do it, no matter how much she was tempted. Still, she wouldn't be stilled, it seemed.

Fine, if you won't flash him, at least kiss him yourself. He wants you, he's just afraid you'll be freaked out. Show him it's okay. That you're fine with it.

You KNOW you want to. You've been wondering for years what it would be like to do it. To actually make out with Daniel. You're still drunk enough; he won't think anything of it. Who knows, he might even like it! You know you will. You'll regret it if you don't…

All this time, as both of them were busy engaging in their own inner dialogues, Daniel had been staring at Betty's lips, like a thirsty man, looking at water, but for some reason, afraid to drink, worried it is only a mirage.

Betty finally noticed his gaze and her inner child won the battle, causing her to blurt out, "For crying out loud, Daniel, do I have to do EVERYTHING?"

She pulled him down to her as forcefully as her tiny frame could manage and once he was close enough, she whispered, "Kiss me, you idiot. You know you want to."

They were so close he could practically taste her lips. Although he knew it was her intoxication 'talking' right now, he was done being such a damn gentleman. She clearly wanted him to kiss her; at least a part of her did, even if she was a little too drunk to keep her from being so forward.

He whispered, "I only hesitated because I want our first kiss to be special, Betty. Not have you tell me the next day you were too drunk to remember it."

"I'll remember it, Daniel. I'm not THAT drunk."

"You're sure?"

"YES, I'm sure!"

He laughed slightly at her impatience. He sort of enjoyed teasing her. She was so cute right now he thought; poised to kiss him, her eyes closed, her lips slightly puckering. He closed the small distance between them, putting one hand gently behind her head and the other around her waist.

Once their lips touched, he felt their warmth against his own. The contact seemed to spark some inner fire in him, in both of them. She surprised him by jumping up on him, her legs wrapped around his waist, and her tongue was also doing all sorts of fun and interesting things inside his mouth.

He wondered if it was perhaps because of her Latina heritage that she could do that or if it was simply her own unique talent.

Either way, he was definitely enjoying it. Who knew all this time, Betty Suarez had breasts countless women would pay thousands for andshe was an excellent kisser?

Man she had strong legs! His mind was now really wandering. His hands slid around her back, while hers were running through his hair with childlike enthusiasm.

She kissed like a crazy person, he thought, a passionate, sexy crazy person who was quickly knocking down his own walls of 'coolness' and causing him to get caught up in her wild abandon now.

He found his hands had started drifting further and further south in their exploration; the more her kiss stirred him. Soon, he was panting, a bit like a schoolboy himself. So much for Daniel, the stud, the ever cool, ever sexy, always put together Editor-in-chief!

She was starting to get him completely unglued here, he realized. Her kiss was affecting him just like spicy foods did. His tongue was on fire, his temperature was quickly rising and yet, he couldn't help wanting more.

As their pod finally touched the ground, they became vaguely aware of a growing crowd. Finally, they parted, mostly just so they could breathe, and both blushed to see a small group of onlookers watching them. When they stopped kissing, the crowd cheered.

 

Chapter 3

Daniel looked down at Betty, who still had her legs wrapped around him and as she looked up into his eyes, they both laughed at the situation.

He smiled and said quietly, "Yeah, uh, you might want to get down. This kind of doesn't look so good."

She complied, blushing at how intense they had both gotten, but in particular her. He winked at her, grabbing hold of her hand tightly,

"Let's make a run for it. I see a pub over there where we can go inside and grab a bite, then I'll call for a car. Are you with me, Betty?"

She nodded, "Mmhmm. Who are all those people, anyway?"

"I'm not sure. Most of them are probably just tourists who are nosy, but we might have a few paparazzi, looking for some celebrity they can catch being bad.

The press here is way worse than in New York. Don't worry, we'll be fine. Just don't let go of my hand. Ready?"

She nodded, finding it a little exciting that they had 'paparazzi' possibly to shake, but mostly rather annoyed that people were so nosy to take pictures of people kissing.

Although…it WAS a tourist attraction, after all, so normally, she would NEVER have thought of herself as the type to get so carried away in a public place like that.

She knew for Daniel, he was used to it, but this was very strange and unusual behavior for Betty.

Still, she hadn't been able to stop her heart from racing ever since he had first acted like he wanted to kiss her. And when he did! She knew for a fact she'd never been kissed like THAT before! Which is one reason she had been so...what was the word, oh, yeah, aroused, perhaps?

He patted her hand, and looked at her, re-assuringly, "On three, let's go. Ready? One, two, THREE. GO!"

They ran out of the pod, laughing, and quickly zig-zagged their way through the small crowd of people, some who were simply queuing up for their turn, and others who had been curiously watching the amorous couple.

Not that they were the only couple to be kissing inside, certainly. Quite the contrary, in fact. However, they were still doing it for quite some time after touching the ground.

They ran to the pub and found a booth in the corner. Luckily, no one bothered to follow them across traffic inside the warm and crowded place. "Are you hungry?" 

She nodded, "Starved!"

"Yeah, me, too. I didn't eat much on the plane, just a few snacks with a couple of drinks. I'm really starting to feel my jet-lag about now.  
I think I'd better drink some water and eat something to keep me from feeling so light-headed. Does fish and chips sound okay?"

She nodded, "Sounds good to me."

Once they had ordered, and both got water and coffee, they looked at one another across the table. 

Betty looked down, nervously, "So, Daniel… um…about that kiss."

He grinned, nodding, "Yeah, about that. That was… crazy!" They both finished, laughing.

He shrugged, "Yeah, well, I guess that's what happens when you mix a little too much alcohol with flashing your best friend! Not to mention…you, look really great tonight. And I think this is actually the first time I can remember when neither one of us is seeing someone."

She bit her lip, trying to stop blushing. The waitress brought their orders and they ate in relative silence for a few minutes. As Betty went to reach for a 'chip', Daniel grabbed it and grinned at her as he fed it to her. She ate it slowly, looking at him.

"Do you have any idea how cute you are, when you're embarrassed, Betty? You're really adorable right now. You're kind of turning me on."

"Daniel! Cut it out. You're embarrassing me." She blushed again, as she took a drink of her coffee.

He smiled, "Sorry. I don't mean to make you uncomfortable. Actually, scratch that. I do. Hell, you sort of started it, Betty, remember?"

"How?" He gave her a look, glancing at her chest.

"Oh, right, that. Daniel, you know I didn't know it was YOU!"

"I'm still not seeing that as a good thing, Betty. Like I said, there are safety issues to consider. Besides…if you hadn't done that plus kissed me like that, I would never have gotten so turned on!"

"I didn't kiss you, you kissed me!"

He gave her a look, "Well, maybe eventually, but you started that, too, Betty. Not to mention, you jumping on me like that! You've sort of been a little tease tonight.

It's so unlike you. Maybe I should get you drunk more often on Guinness!" he laughed.

She didn't know what to say. He was right. She had been really 'flirty' with him all night. The flashing was an accident, but of course, normally, she would have never done such a thing to begin with, and then her subsequent challenge to him to kiss her certainly was no accident, she thought, feeling somewhat guilty.

"You're right; I was really inappropriate early, Daniel. I'm sorry."

He reached out for her hand, "Don't say that, Betty. I'm not sorry. I'm sort of…relieved. I have to tell you, I've really been wanting to kiss you for quite a while now. I was just too worried I'd freak you out, you know?"

She looked shocked, "You have? Why?"

He laughed, "What do you mean, why? Uh, I'm a man, you're a woman. You're a really sweet, wonderful person that I've known for four years and I adore you. I mean, you know, I…well, you know what I mean."

She almost choked on her French fry. He reddened slightly, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean…like that, really. Oh, hell, Betty.

You know how much I care about you. That's hardly front page news. Why should it be such a big deal for us to…you know, see each other?  
You're not in my department anymore. You're an editor now. It's almost like we're just co-workers or something."

"Daniel…you still own the company. Besides, you're the Editor-in-chief, which still makes me your employee."

"Betty, who cares? This is silly. Your ethics are admirable, and mine…well, mine suck; I know, but even you've got to admit, I've improved.

But I really think we…are such good friends, nobody would be surprised if we started dating. Hell, we practically camp out at each other's apartments half the time, anyway. Yes, we sleep on the couch, but… nobody believes us when we tell them that.

And I'm frankly tired of dating women I can't even have a conversation with anymore. You're fun to be around. You challenge me. You make me think about what I'm doing.

You make me a better person. You're good for me. Why WOULDN'T I want to…develop that into a real relationship?"

She smiled, "That's all really sweet, Daniel. I don't know what to say. I'm a little overwhelmed right now. I'll think about it. By the way, just for the record, I agree, you've definitely improved.

You've come so far in so many ways. I'm really proud of you and how great you are at your job and how much you've changed your…you know."

"Man-whore ways?" he finished for her, smirking slightly.

"Well, sort of, I guess."

"Thanks, Betty. So…does that mean you'll think about it?"

"About…dating you?" She took a breath, trying to calm herself. Was he really serious?

"Yeah. Look, I know it would affect your reputation a lot more than mine. People are going to think whatever they're going to think, you know.

I realize it might not be the best thing for you to be 'dating the boss'. But, there are a lot of perks, too."

"Such as?" She smiled, thinking how completely adorable he was right now, trying to 'sell himself' to her. Was he serious? Please! Like she needed to be sold! She knew what a catch he was.

He took her hand and looked at her, "Well, for one thing, if you date me, I promise to always make sure you have enough office supplies."

She laughed, "Well, then, how can I refuse?"

"Really? You'll do it? I mean, you know, you'll go out with me?"

She nodded, blushing again, as she put her other hand on his, "Okay. I think you're right, Daniel. We've been friends long enough to be really comfortable with one another and well…I honestly can't think of a reason why not.

Except…are you sure you wouldn't be embarrassed to be seen with me? I'm hardly a supermodel. Just because I got my braces off…"

"And stopped wearing socks with your heels?" he smiled.

She hit his arm, "Very funny!"

"You know I'm just teasing you, Betty. I love your colorful taste! It's cute. You're cute. You're…a pretty good kisser, too, I must say."

He paid for their meal and the car he had called for arrived to take them to their hotels. "I'll have him drop me off first, then you, if you don't mind. I'd take you back first, but I'm sorry, I'm kind of tired right now.

If I want to be able to attend the show tomorrow afternoon, I'd better get some sleep. I've been up for quite a while. I think I'm a little out of it."

She smiled, "So, THAT'S why you wanted to date me, huh? You're hallucinating from exhaustion!"

He rolled his eyes, and once they were in the car, he leaned forward to kiss her, taking her by surprise. "I'm not THAT exhausted, Betty.

And if I'm hallucinating, I'm not complaining, that's for sure. Listen, I know you said you had something you needed to get up for tomorrow   
morning, so I won't keep you, but do you want to come up for a second?"

She wasn't sure why she hesitated to tell him she had an interview for a fashion columnust position with Lindsey Dunne the next morning. It was only a part-time postion, so she certainly wouldn't have to even cut down on her work at Mode.

It just felt...like she was somehow 'cheating' on Daniel even talking to Mr. Dunne."Come up for a second? Daniel…I don't really think so."

"Betty!" He grinned, "What exactly do you think I'm suggesting?"

 

Chapter 4

"Well, I…I…just thought."

He smirked, "You assumed I was asking you up to be naughty, didn't you, Betty? No, I just thought you might want to see my room, that's all.  
I told you; I'm beat. If you want to stay and tuck me in, though, I probably wouldn't complain."

She rolled her eyes, "Fine. I'll come in. NOT to…tuck you in! But, maybe I could use your restroom to freshen up? The wait at that pub was out the door."

"Sure. All I can say is, I'm glad the fashion show isn't until late in the afternoon tomorrow. I don't know how people deal with this crazy jet-lag.

I think I just saw purple hearts and orange moons dancing past my foggy brain." He smiled, groggily.

She laughed, taking his arm, "It's not your brain that's foggy, Daniel. That's actually fog. But I know what you mean about the jet-lag. I had it right after I got here, too. You'll be fine after you get some sleep."

"Yeah, I know. I haven't flown across the Atlantic in a while. I was thinking I should probably take some time and visit Alexis while I'm in Europe.

It's been almost a year since I've seen her or my nephew. We talk a lot, and video chat, but not as much as I'd like. He's getting really tall.

He'll probably be taller than me now. Like his…uh dad. Or mom. Especially when she wears heels. I really don't know what to call Alexis. It's weird, you know?"

She nodded, "I'm sure it must be for DJ, too." 

She put a hand on his arm, seeing he seemed to be getting upset. "I'm sorry; I know you really miss DJ, Daniel. You were a great dad."

"Thanks, Betty. You're sweet. I'm glad he and Alexis are getting along, but…I have to admit, I'm a little jealous.

I liked being a father. It made me stop being so selfish all the time. He's a great kid, too. We had fun. So here we are." 

He let her into his hotel suite. To say it was luxurious was the understatement of the century.

"Really roughing it as usual, I see." She teased. "You get a butler with this?"

He shrugged, "Yeah, well, you know, I…feel like, if you're going to stay in a hotel, it should have all the good stuff hotels have. Supposedly Michael Jackson stayed here and Liz Taylor and Dick Burton spent their uh…first honeymoon here!

Marc Jacobs told me if I was coming to London, I had to stay in this suite! He got me a great deal."

"Oh, great! Did he give you a coupon?" she shook her head.

But he ignored her, showing her around like a kid in a candy store, "Check this out, there's a huge Jacuzzi tub in the bathroom. I think I just might have to use that tomorrow, when I get up, actually. And the mini bar doesn't exactly suck. You want some Macadamia nuts?"

She laughed at his enthusiasm, "No thanks, I'm still full from the late dinner at the pub. This place is unreal!

It's like a palace or something. I think you're a little giddy, though, Daniel. You're being sort of…silly."

He rubbed his eyes, wearily, "Yeah, you might have a point. Go ahead and…help yourself, freshen up. I'm going to go…sit down for a minute. I'm a little…dizzy."

"DANIEL! Daniel! Oh, my God!" He had just collapsed, right in the doorway leading to the bathroom, luckily on the carpet rather than the marble tile floor.

Betty went to him, to make sure he was breathing. She tried patting his cheeks and yelling his name to wake him, but he was out cold.

She ran to get a wash cloth and soaked it in cold water, running it over his face and neck, but he was still asleep.

She called the front desk to tell them what had happened and they informed her that their policy was simply to call emergency services. In the meantime, she was told the concierge would come immediately to check on Daniel.  
Betty had his head in her lap, as she bathed it with the washcloth and tried to get him to wake up.  
She worried he had overtired himself, flying here, mainly for her benefit, although perhaps partially because he was trying to run away from the Tyler fiasco, too, she realized.

The hotel manager himself came rushing in, "Is the gentleman feeling better, Miss?"

"No! He still hasn't woken up. Can you help me get him on a bed, please, until the ambulance arrives?"

"Of course, Madame. Allow me." He and Betty managed to carry Daniel to the huge bed and place him on it. She paced a bit, then tried again to wake him.

Once the emergency medical services arrived, Daniel had stirred a bit. He looked around, "What's going on? Betty? Who are all these people?"

"You passed out, Daniel. Are you alright?"

He nodded, rubbing his head, "Yeah. I'm okay. Just really dizzy and tired. Hey, guys. What's all the stuff for?

I'm not…sick. I'm just tired. I just have jet lag, I think. Look, I don't need to go to a hospital or anything.

I swear, I'm okay. I just need to get some sleep, and I'll be good as new, I promise. Thanks for coming to check on me, but really, I don't need all this."

Eventually, after taking his blood pressure and making sure he seemed to be in relatively good health and refused further treatment, everyone left.

The manager still seemed a bit uncertain, not wanting any of his guests to be ill, understandably, but Betty assured him she would stay with Daniel to make sure he was feeling better and contact him personally in the morning to let him know Daniel had improved.

"Very good, Madame. Please feel free to order anything from guest services that you need. Let us know if we can help in any way. I'm at your disposal.

I'm so grateful you were here to see to Mr. Meade. His father was a very good man. I knew him quite well when he traveled here."

"Of course. Thank you so much for all your help. I'll let you know if there's anything we need. You've been really helpful. Goodnight."

"Good evening, Miss…?"

"Oh, uh…it's Suarez, Betty Suarez."

"Good evening, Miss Suarez. Lovely to have met you. I sincerely hope Mr. Meade is feeling much better tomorrow."

"Thanks. I'm sure he will." She went to Daniel's bedroom and checked to see he was still somewhat awake. She sat on the edge of the bed.

"Hey. You scared me to death, passing out like that. You need to take better care of yourself, mister."

He smiled; his eyes still half-closed. "I just wanted some attention, that's all. See, Betty, I told you I'd get you to tuck me in." he drifted back to sleep.

She smiled and found a blanket to cover him with, then whispered, as she kissed his forehead, "You sure did. Very tricky, Daniel."

She sighed, looking at the luxurious bathroom. She left a message for Hilda. Good, she was actually glad her sister didn't answer her phone. She knew Hilda would get more information out of her than she was willing to give right now.

She simply said in her message, "Hey, I'm going to be out late. Don't wait up. I'm fine. Hope you're having a good time at your bachlorette week, Queen Hilda. I'll call you tomorrow."

She looked around at the unbelievably lavish suite, shaking her head. She could only imagine how much this place cost.

But right now, she was going to immerse herself in the luxury and see that at least somebody got some enjoyment out of it.

As she soaked in the huge tub, full of bubbles, listening to music on her IPod, Betty felt relaxed and yet, somehow invigorated.

She was here in London, celebrating her sister getting married soon to her high school sweetheart.

Bobby was a great guy and he and Hilda were perfect for each other. They both had a way of cutting through the 'crap' so to speak.

Betty was slightly envious of what they had. They seemed so comfortable with each other, yet still had passion. But, wait, she thought, could she and Daniel have that, too, maybe?

If tonight were any indication, maybe so, she wondered. Although, she hoped his slightly loopy condition and his exhaustion wasn't the only reason behind his increased attention to her.

What if it was, though? What if when he came to himself more he realized how crazy it all was to think of him and Betty as a couple? She started to worry that's exactly what would happen.

Why on earth would Daniel want her? She must have been slightly drunk herself to think he would ever even consider dating someone so…ordinary.  
I mean, she knew she was a good person, but…look at this hotel suite!   
Daniel was staying at a place celebrities stayed at, for goodness sakes!

The manager of the hotel had come and checked on him personally and helped her put him on the bed. None of this was…her.

She decided to call Claire and give her a heads up about Daniel's condition. Who knows, maybe she could help bridge the somewhat icy relations between mother and son recently.

"Mrs. Meade? It's Betty. I'm here, in Daniel's suite in London. He's asleep right now. But I thought I'd better tell you what happened earlier."

"Oh, Betty, you don't have to explain anything to me. I've known for some time now my son had developed feelings for you. I'm very happy for you both.

But, really, dear, it's late there. You should…get some rest yourself! I'm surprised Daniel fell asleep before you, frankly."

Betty blushed as she realized what Claire must surely be thinking, "Oh, no! He sort of just…passed out earlier.  
I was really worried about him, so I called the hotel people, and the EMT guys came to check him out, but he woke up for a little bit and said he was fine, just jet-lagged, and then he fell back asleep."

Betty had gotten out of the bath, now and was in the cozy hotel robe, stretched out on one of the sofas in the 'sitting area' of Daniel's suite, her hair wrapped in a towel.

She felt so relaxed, along with the fact that she was so far away from Claire; she felt more comfortable being completely honest with the matriarch, "Mrs. Meade…are you serious?

You really think Daniel…likes me? He sort of said so tonight, but I was worried he might have just been groggy from the flight and not really meant it."

"Oh, he meant it, Betty. Daniel's been in love with you for some time now, if you ask me. He's just been too stupid and stubborn to admit it, even to himself. I honestly thought he had a crush on you before he even met Molly."

Betty was shocked, "You did? You're kidding!"

Claire laughed, "No, dear. He did apologize for the whole, 'tornado girl' fiasco. He was worried sick when that crazy sister of Wilhelmina's nearly killed you.

I thought he was going to have a coronary when we were on our way to his loft, and she had more or less kidnapped you.

He was beside himself. He always worries about you. He was ready to pound poor Henry several times, whenever the boy had broken your heart, time after time.

Then, after the incident with Matt Hartley, at the UN…well, let's just say, as his mother, I've seen this coming for some time, now."

After discussing the situation with Tyler and re-assuring Claire that Daniel was probably just overtired from his long flight, and that she would 'keep an eye on him' for her and have him call her himself as soon as he was feeling better, Betty ended her call and drifted off to sleep herself, feeling cozy after her long bath.

"Hey, Betty? Are you okay?" She opened her eyes to see Daniel, awake and apparently feeling much better, standing over her.

She rubbed her eyes, and yawned, "I'm fine. I must have dozed off. What time is it?"

He squinted at his watch, which looked rather out of place with his current ensemble of…black silk boxers. "Looks like four-thirty am, Greenwich Mean Time.

I think I'm a little screwed up with my body's internal alarm clock here.

Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you, well, I mean, I did, obviously. I was starting to worry you'd get cold."

She saw he had covered her with a blanket. "Thanks, that was sweet. I'm okay."

"Yeah, well, if you want, you could put on something of mine. I've got a few sweats that would be big on you, but…maybe a little warmer than that robe, at least. 

Listen, thanks for staying to…look after me or whatever.  
I'm feeling a lot better now. I guess I just needed a little shut eye. Come on in the bedroom, I'll give you some clothes to put on."

"Okay." She looked around, feeling completely overwhelmed to be in Daniel's huge hotel suite, especially with him, in his underwear and her…only in a robe. She felt as if she must be dreaming this whole crazy night.

He smiled as she walked in behind him, looking intimidated. He took her hand, "Betty, don't look so scared. I'm not going to eat you."

"Daniel Meade!"

He laughed, "God, Betty, you know I didn't…wow, that totally came out wrong. I just meant…you know, I'm not like the big, bad wolf." She gave him a look, raising her eyebrows.

He just laughed again, putting his arm around her, "Okay, well, I guess you're right. Maybe I am, a little. But, not with you."

"Gee, thanks."

He shook his head, "Betty, stop it, you know perfectly well how I meant that. I'm not saying you're safe with me because I'm not…interested."

"Why not? That's pretty much the way its' always been with us, Daniel. Let's be honest.

I've never worried about your bad reputation because all anybody had to do was look at me and they would know I was the last person on earth you would be interested in.

Let's face it; we both know that's how I got my job in the first place. Your father took one look at me and knew you'd never in a million years even look at me."

He turned her to face him, holding her by her arms, "Yeah, well, what can I say, Betty? My father and I never got along.

He didn't really know me at all. He was wrong. He was stupid. So was I. You're beautiful. Any guy would be lucky to be with you.

Betty, look at me. I'm serious. Look at yourself, for God's sake. You grew up. You're gorgeous, now. Face it, sweetie."


	2. Ch 5-8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Re-posting of chapters 5-8

Chapter 5

Betty looked up at Daniel. He seemed to be awake and alert, and mentally stable. She didn't know what to think.  
How was she supposed to respond to all this? After all this time, her best friend was telling her, and his own mother confirming that he had feelings for her?  
"That's really sweet of you to say, Daniel."  
"I mean it, Betty. I really wish you could see yourself through my eyes. You're such a good person. You've always been there for me, encouraging me that I could succeed.  
My whole life, I always felt like I was a screw up, in my dad's eyes, in the press. I could relate to that Prince Harry over here.  
Alex was the heir apparent to my father's legacy and I was…just a spare, you know?  
Until I met you. You really made me feel good about myself. You gave me hope that I could actually do my job and do it well.  
Then, you helped me follow through with it. You never let me get down on myself.  
All that has meant so much to me over the years. And you know it's not just me, Betty. It's everyone you're around.  
You uplift everybody. You inspire us all." He smiled, letting her know he had been reading her blog.  
She blushed, looking down, trying to overlook their current state of undress, and just appreciate his compliment simply for what it was; a kind and touching statement of his feelings.  
Still, her breath was shallow and as he stared into her eyes, once she finally dared to look up, she saw something she had never noticed before in the way he was looking at her.  
She tried to bring things back to 'normal', "I take it; you've been reading my brilliant blog? What, did you get bored on your long flight?"  
He rolled his eyes, "No. I read it all the time, now. Especially since our little 'argument' over your award. I didn't want to take any chances that you would trash me again."  
She smiled, "No. I learned my lesson there, I think."  
"Yeah me, too, sunshine girl."  
She laughed, "That was really nice what you said that night, Daniel."  
He moved even closer to her, if that was possible at this point, "I meant every word. I know it probably sounded a little corny."  
She smiled, "A little, maybe. But I still thought it was incredibly sweet."  
He laughed slightly, "Hey, well, you know, I'm not really as good at romancing a woman as the press makes me out to be sometimes."  
"Sure, Daniel." She thought a minute, "Oh, you mean because normally, women just jump into bed with you, so you don't need to be romantic?"  
"I know it probably sounds arrogant, but honestly, yeah. But I realize that only means I've been setting my sights too low with the type of women I've been with in the past.  
I've been deliberately 'hooking up' with girls who are easy, so I never had to work for their affections, you know?"  
"In the past?"  
"Yeah, Betty. I'm turning thirty-seven years old soon. I think it's about time I grew up and stopped wasting my time.  
Time I looked at what's been right in front of me all this time. Or more specifically, who's been in front of me."  
"You mean…okay, what do you mean, exactly?"  
"You."  
"Me?"  
"Right, you. I want you, Betty."  
"You want me? You mean, like right now?" She looked as if she were going to freak out.  
She backed up, tripping over his luggage and hitting her head on the dresser. "OW!"  
He helped her up, "Are you okay? Jesus, Betty. You don't have to kill yourself, trying to run away from me. I wasn't going to…do anything right this second.  
I mean, well, I could, that is, I probably would, actually, but I'm still not really feeling like myself completely.  
That doesn't mean you have to freak out. Are you really that scared of me? Seriously?"  
He led her to sit down on his bed, carefully, looking at her head to make sure she was okay.  
She took a breath, biting her lip, "Of course not. Well, okay, maybe I am, a little.  
Not scared of you, really. Just of…you know, becoming us, I guess. It's a big deal to date you, Daniel.  
On one hand, I think you're amazing and I really care about you and then, you know, well, you're so sexy and charming and awesome, so it's like, heck yeah, sign me up, you know?  
Plus you're like SUCH a good kisser; you sort of curled my toes, but…"  
He smiled, "You are really adorable, Betty. You know that? Now, don't freak out, but I think I'm just going to have to kiss you after that little speech.  
Let me know if I uh…curl your toes too much now, okay?" She nodded, and he leaned forward, kissing her.  
As they parted, she took a breath, "Wow."  
He nodded, smiling, "Yeah. I would have to second that wow. I think you just made my toes curl, too, Betty."  
She giggled, hitting his arm softly, "Cut it out. Don't tease me."  
"But you're so cute when I tease you. It's extremely fun to see you blush, Betty." He was next to her face, pushing back a strand of hair behind her ear.  
Right on cue, she reddened again. "Daniel, I…just, well, I'm worried about how this is going to come out in the press, you know?  
I'm afraid it's going to be just like it was when I first started at Mode.  
All those other women are going to make fun of me and say I'm not good enough for you and…I just don't know.  
That's what I'm afraid of, honestly. Plus, I…never mind."  
"What? Betty, tell me. I know the press can be jerks, believe me.  
I've always been their poster boy for pretty but stupid. Hell, you know how well I took things after that crap with Sofia, hiding out like an idiot!  
But you're stronger than I was then. You know you're worth more to me than ten Supermodels.  
I've always told you, you were better than any model. I meant that back when I said it and it's even more true today.  
Lately, you've blossomed into this…amazing, inspiring, and insanely sexy woman.  
You have to know how great you not only truly ARE on the inside but look on the outside now, too, Betty.  
And I'm not just saying that because you hypnotized me with your hot boobs tonight."  
She put her hand over her eyes, but he could tell she was blushing, but still laughing, all the same.  
He pulled her hand away, tilting his head to look at her face, and putting his finger under her chin to pull her closer, to whisper,  
"Betty, deal with it. I saw your boobs and kissed you and the world didn't end. In fact, since that kiss…I don't know which made me dizzier, my jet-lag or your crazy tongue!"  
She smiled, "How do you do that?"  
"Do what? You mean, kiss so well? Uh, well, in case you haven't heard, I've had LOTS of practice, sweetie.  
But, I'm willing to bet there are still a few things you could actually teach me.  
I really like that thing you did with your tongue. And those legs! You have REALLY strong legs, Betty. I think I can work with that."  
She shook her head, "Daniel! No, I meant…no matter how scared, or upset or worried I get, you can always make me laugh."  
He shrugged, smirking, "What can I say? It's one of my many gifts, Betty."  
She laughed, then seemed to make her decision, "Okay, IF we actually do this, date I mean, what is your plan to throw off the press?  
I'm not sure I want to debut our relationship in the British tabs quite yet during Fashion Week. Besides, if I 'upstage' Queen Hilda for her wedding, she'll murder me!"  
She shook her head, covering her eyes, "Oh, my God! I just realized the press for Fashion Week!  
Daniel, they're going to know you're here. And after our little display tonight on the London Eye earlier!  
Plus, now, me staying here all night with you…Oh God! This is not happening! You're right; I know the British press is even more nuts than ours! What are we going to do?"  
He shook his head, patting her hand, "Well, for one thing, calm down, Betty. The main thing I've learned from all my years in the press is, no matter what, you've still got to live your life the way you decide.  
You can't worry about what they say. Because frankly, it doesn't matter what you do, they'll still find something bad to write if they think it will sell.  
But, I have an idea. What hotel are you guys staying in?"  
"The Royal Horseguards."  
"I'll tell you what. In honor of Hilda's wedding, I'll spring to get all of you a suite here. We'll bring her wedding party here, and then it won't seem so much like it's just you and me.  
Then, I'll make sure and show up at the show today alone, while you and your sister and Mandy go have a girls' day.  
The truth works best, because you don't have to try and make up a bunch of stuff.  
But, maybe after the show tonight…you could come back here and we could have dinner in my room?  
If you think you can slip away from your sister. Is Christina staying? I haven't seen her in a while."  
"No, she has to go back to Scotland this afternoon. She's uh…meeting me later this morning, at ten, then she's taking the train.  
She was just in town to see me and for Fashion Week, of course, but she's got to go back to Edinburgh to take care of the baby.  
Stuart had an interview for a job transfer here and his mother wasn't able to look after little William."  
"If Stuart's coming here to London, why doesn't he just bring William with him and you know, switch off?"  
"You clearly haven't been around two year olds much, Daniel. How is she supposed to take care of him while she's here at the shows?"  
He thought a minute, "Hey, I could help out a little. I mean, I just came to relieve you a bit from the shows. I didn't plan on necessarily staying for all of them.  
Between the three of us, you, me, and Christina, she could still have time to see some more of the shows, then. She wouldn't have to leave."  
"That's awfully sweet of you, Daniel, to be willing to help 'babysit' for Christina. And not to sound suspicious, but…what's in it for you?"  
He smiled, "Just throwing the press off. I mean, I'm here, helping one friend; you, to have more time with your sister, preparing for her wedding.  
And our mutual friend, Christina McKinney is here, as an up-and-coming designer, so we volunteered to watch him. The press will eat up anything to do with kids."  
"So, you're going to exploit little William to throw the press off you and me?"  
"Basically, yeah. Do you have a problem with that? Do you think Christina will mind us using her child as a decoy?"  
"Me, no. I think it's brilliant, Daniel. And if it involves free babysitting, I think Christina will be ecstatic!"  
He laughed, "Okay. So, now we have to figure out a way to smuggle you out of here without seeing 'Walk of shame' plastered on the front page of The Star. Any ideas?"  
"Yes! I'll call the hotel manager and see if he can let me borrow a uniform and slip out the service entrance quietly. He'd do anything for you, so I'm sure he'd agree."  
He nodded, "See, Betty! You were cut out for sneaking around. It's actually kind of…hot.  
So, listen, now that we have a plan to carry on a hot, secret love affair here without getting 'outed' to the press, do you think we could maybe…have a little preview of coming attractions?  
I'm not my best right now, still, but…I have a feeling after a hot shower, and a little more rest, I'll be very happy to uh…you know, entertain you tonight.  
I'll even see if I can throw in a little of that 'romance' you seem so set on, Betty. Now, don't count on too much.  
I'm no dream guy when it comes to that kind of stuff, but…I'll see what I can do on short notice."  
She found herself faced with a dilemma. If she actually did this, tried to have a relationship with Daniel, what did she bring into it?  
He had so much going for him, and she knew countless other women thought he was hot. Not that she didn't of course!  
Still, if Daniel was willing to overlook her obvious 'flaws', and saw her value, she tried to think of something she felt she did have to offer.  
It had bothered her when Matt had accused her of not being passionate enough with him. Maybe that was simply because she didn't feelthat much passion for him!  
She took a breath, trying to tell herself not to 'freak out', but to go with how she really felt, to be fearless, "Well, I look forward to that, Daniel.  
As far as upcoming attractions," she inched closer to him, and stopped just inches from his lips, whispering, as she grabbed his face in her hands,  
"Is this what you had in mind?" She kissed him slowly, and passionately, moving to kiss his face all over, biting his ear lightly, and finally, worked her way down his neck and across his chest.  
He closed his eyes, greatly enjoying what she was doing, and yet in mild shock. This was Betty? His sweet, innocent little Betty?  
He blew out a breath, leaning back as she came back up to his mouth, holding one cheek in her hand, and whispered,  
"I might not be a model, Daniel, but my curves are what make me a real woman!"  
He was incredibly turned on, and he pulled her to him, "Hell, yeah, Betty. You are most definitely a real woman, honey.  
And believe me, I like your curves. All of them." He looked down in appreciation of her body and caressed her softly.  
Then he kissed her again, even more intensely, wanting badly to do far more, but determined not to push things too far right now.  
First of all, to give her a chance to consider if she was really willing to possibly face the press if it came to that, and also so he could recover his own strength.  
As they parted, both clearly wanting more, he shook his head, "Uh, I need to…go...uh…you should probably take a cold shower now, and I'll get the manager to help me sneak out for now.  
I mean... Oh, hell, you know what I mean, Betty! I'll see you tonight!"  
She smiled, Yeah, she might not be a model, but…she still had passion!

Chapter 6: Chapter 6

London Falling  
Chapter 6  
Thanks to the manager, Mr. Jefferson helping her 'sneak' out of the hotel, Betty easily made it past a few people with cameras she saw camped out in the hotel lobby and front entrance as she left discretely out from the employee exit in the rear.  
Once she got back to her own hotel, she was quietly walking to her bag, to get the dress she wanted to wear for her interview with Mr. Dunne in a few hours.  
She felt badly not having had the chance to mention it to Daniel, but she didn't really think anything would necessarily come of it, anyway, so she just figured it would be good 'practice' for her, if nothing else.  
"Stop right there, little sister! Do I really need to ask what you and New York's most notorious bachelor have been doing all night together?" Hilda's voice sounded raspy, as if she and the rest of her 'royal court' had stayed up drinking for quite some time.  
Betty plastered on a fake smile, "Please, Hilda! I'm not you!"  
"HEY!" Hilda smiled.  
"You know perfectly well, Daniel and I always spend time together and all we ever do is…talk, for goodness sakes. Why should tonight be any different? Just because we're in London, it doesn't necessarily change anything."  
"No, but maybe having you flash him did."  
Betty could feel her cheeks getting warm, "Why do you say that?"  
She took out her phone, showing Betty an image of herself and Daniel, kissing in the London Eye earlier.  
"Maybe because I got a call earlier from my son, saying he saw you and Daniel on Fashion News tonight, making out in the London Eye together!"  
Betty bit her lip, "Crap! Well, look, nothing happened, Hilda. I mean, well, we did kiss…a lot, obviously, but he passed out from jet lag and the hotel wanted him to go to the hospital, but he seemed okay, so I just stayed, on his couch and we both slept all night, I swear. But…he did ask me out. In fact, he said he wants to start dating."  
"Wow! Really? Hell, Betty, you should have flashed him a long time ago!"  
She rolled her eyes, but giggled, "Maybe. Listen, he said he is going to give you an early wedding present and move us all to The Claridge, to a fancy suite. Oh my goodness, you should see his, Hilda! Movie stars stayed there. And I got to take a bath in…" She stopped, realizing that was going to spark another round of questions.  
In fact, Amanda had roused, hearing Betty talking, rubbing her eyes, and moaning, "Betty! Your voice is so LOUD! Wait, did you just say you took a bath with Daniel? Ooh, spill, chica! Details! Did he do that thing where he…"  
"AMANDA!" Hilda and Betty both made a face.  
"Betty does NOT want to hear how you and her new boyfriend used to do it, okay?"  
Amanda shrugged, "I was just going to give you a few pointers. But, I'm sure you'll figure it out. One thing for sure, those Meade men are definitely all alike in one way. One very BIG way!"  
Hilda looked curious to hear more, but Christina came out from the bathroom, washing her face and looking rather haggard. "Oh, good grief, what are we on about now? Are you tellin another story of your sexual adventures, Amanda? Why don't you go in alphabetical order? Then, at least it will give you some practice to improve your filing skills!"  
"Ooh, harsh, Braveheart! Don't bite my head off just because you can't hold your liquor!" She tried to imitate Christina's Scottish accent, but it came out rather garbled.  
"Betty! Where did you run off to? Spend the whole night givng Daniel a tonsillectomy, did you? Hilda showed us the lovely little lip lock you two were up to last night when you left the pub. Did he finally get in your knickers, then?"  
"No! Of course not."  
"No, but I think she wants to get in his tonight! If I know my sister, and I do, she was just about to try and bribe us all with aiding and abetting her little rendezvous with him tonight by upgrading our accommodations!"  
Betty looked impressed, "Very nice, Queen Hilda! Accommodations, huh? Did you look that one up in the dictionary?"  
"Hey! I know vocabulary. You're not the only smart one in the family. I've got skills."  
"Yes, I'm sure. But giving hickeys where they don't show isn't one I'm going to want to put on my resume, Hilda."  
"Yeah, well, it's too bad I couldn't put it on mine, because it could have used something on it." She giggled and hiccupped.  
Betty looked at Christina, "Uh, listen, has Stuart left Scotland yet?"  
"No. He leaves in a few hours, why?"  
She knew she was going to be transparent here, "Well, Daniel said he really misses seeing little William and he suggested he and I could help you watch him, and that way, you could still stay here and see a few more shows if you wanted to and then, you and Stuart could have some alone time, too.  
It would be great if he gets the job here, wouldn't it? You were saying how hard it's been for you to get established in your business going back and forth between here and Edinburgh, right? Just think, if he gets the transfer, you could both live here!"  
"What do you care, unless…are you thinking this job with Mr. Dunne could develop into something full time? Are you really thinking of moving here, Betty?" Christina seemed excited, but Hilda looked crestfallen.  
"You are? Really? But, Betty…what about my wedding? You are honestly thinking of moving here?"  
Betty shook her head, "No, guys, I just want to see what Mr. Dunne has to say. I don't even know what kind of job we're talking about, Maybe just some articles or something I can still do from New York. But, it's such an honor that he even wants to talk to me!"  
"What did your new boyfriend have to say about it?" Amanda raised an eyebrow. "Are you two going to commute to work on the Meade jet every day and do the mile high thing back and forth?"  
"I…didn't get a chance to tell him yet."  
They all looked at her, and she felt somehow as if she had done something terrible. "Don't look at me like that! I'm going to tell him, I just didn't have time! We were talking about us and he passed out, and the emergency services guys came and checked him over, then we both fell asleep.  
Then, we…talked some more and kissed some more. It was...hectic, you know? I'll tell him about it, after I see if there's anything to tell. Christina, what do you think about having Stuart bring William?"  
She eyed Betty suspiciously, "I think Mr. Meade is using my baby to hide his little transatlantic booty call with his former assistant and I think it's bloody brilliant!  
Too bad I didn't think of it meself. I'll call Stuart now and tell him to grab William's 'go bag' and he can hand the little bugger off to me whilst he does his interview and I'll hand him back to you and Daniel tomorrow sometime around teatime?  
This way, we can have a lovely celebration right here in London if he gets the transfer! Maybe look for somewhere to stay, too. Of course, that would mean I'll need to look for a place to set up shop more permanently here in London, but I've got a few lovely friends here that might be able to help me out there. I'll start asking around." It seemed, her wheels were definitley spinning.  
Amanda looked impressed, "Wow! Christina, you're already so well known here. And now, you might work in London and get really famous! This was your dream! I'm really jealous. I need to start making my dreams come true. I might not always be young and beautiful to fall back on. I should have a real career, too, like all of you."  
Daniel had finally been able to fall back asleep, after a shower and a small breakfast he had sent up. He woke suddenly, feeling much better, but still somewhat disoriented.  
"Mom?" he answered his phone hesitantly.  
"Are you alright, Daniel?" she asked, gently. It was good to have the somewhat chilly relations between them improve, he thought. And asking her advice usually made her happy.  
"I'm okay. How did you know I wasn't feeling well? Mother's intuition makes house calls across the Atlantic, now?" he teased. He figured Betty had probably called her.  
"Your latest victim called me earlier and said you collapsed. Did you eat something? You need food in your stomach, not just coffee and Scotch, Daniel. Plus, lots of water. You need to hydrate when you're traveling. Did I teach you nothing, dear?"  
"Yes, mommy. I just had a late breakfast. It's ten here. Which means, you should be asleep. You're up all night, worrying about me?"  
"You know, Daniel. Just because they cut the umbilical cord almost forty years ago, doesn't mean I will EVER stop worrying about you."  
"Hey! I'm not forty…yet, anyway. Besides that would make YOU…"  
"Shut up, young man."  
"Oh, so now I'm a young man, huh?" he laughed. "Seriously, I'm feeling much better now after some sleep, Mom. I promise I'll eat better. Say, what was that you said about my…latest victim?  
Betty's no victim. Believe me. Besides, nothing happened. Well, that's not true. Something happened, actually. A lot happened, in fact. But not what you're implying. At least, not yet."  
"And you want my help to make sure it does? Daniel, you're my son and I love you, but you're incorrigible. And I say that with all the affection a mother can have for her son who is…well, just a tad slutty, I'm afraid to say. You want my help to lure Betty into your bed? Are you serious?"  
"Mom, it's not just that. I want her to know I…you know."  
"Yes, I know, but do you?"

Chapter 7: Chapter 7

London Falling  
Chapter 7  
Betty was nervously waiting to be seen by Lindsey Dunne. She tapped her fingers on her portfolio and purse nervously, hoping that the British Press still hadn't identified who she was after her little display with Daniel.  
She wasn't sure how impressed the conservative-seeming British publishing mogul would react to such behavior from a possible employee.  
Christina's question had her wondering. Especially now, when things were starting to develop between her and Daniel, would she even consider a position that included her moving here permanently?  
The interview went well; he seemed to be impressed with all she had accomplished in her relatively short time at Mode.  
He offered her a fashion columnist position that she could easily do from New York and email in, so it was a win-win situation. No transatlantic moves required.  
She sighed a breath of relief at not having to make that decision. But she had to admit, there was also the slightest twinge of disappointment when she heard his offer.  
As she headed out the door, she was looking down at a somewhat racy text from Daniel, "Wat r u wearin, Flashy?" She laughed, just as she bumped into someone, "Sorry!"  
"Suarez? What are you doing here?" He looked over her shoulder, "And who's 'Flashy?'  
She put her phone away quickly, "No one. Hey, Gio! How are you?" she hugged him, "It's been a long time. It's good to see you.  
Do you live here, now? I'm just here for Fashion Week. Well, plus, Hilda's engaged, and I brought her with as a bridal party thing."  
He smirked, "Ooh, big time, huh? Mode's sending you here for Fashion Week? Did you finally get a promotion from under Daniel's desk?"  
She hit his arm, "I'm an editor now, and I was never…I never did that." She blushed.  
He grinned, offering his arm to walk. "Walk with me to get some coffee before I head to the airport.  
I'm on my way back to Rome. I'm starting a shop over there. My flight leaves in a couple of hours. Come have some coffee with me. We'll catch up."  
"Sure, I guess so. Do you have time, though? When does your flight leave?"  
He laughed, "I bet you're the type that gets to the airport hours ahead of time, right?"  
"Of course, so I can re-arrange my itinerary."  
"Not me; I hate to sit around the airport, wasting time. Here, let's go in here."  
He led her inside a small pub and ordered two coffees. He smiled, "So, still working as a Mode Robot, huh? Ha! You're a mobot!"  
"I am not a…mo-bot!"  
"What have you done about your writing? I haven't seen you post anything to your blog recently."  
"It's Fashion Week, here, and there's Hilda's wedding. I'm the maid of honor. I've been too…" She stopped to look at his smirk, "You read my blog?"  
He shrugged, "Yeah, once in a while, I keep up with it. Don't go getting all sentimental on me, B. That ship has sailed.  
I mean, you'll always have a special place in my heart, but after you dumped me, I found a girl who appreciates all I have to offer. I'm engaged, actually. Don't tell me you married Egg Salad?  
That would be a huge mistake! We both know there's only one guy that really makes your little heart go pitter-patter."  
She looked puzzled, "First of all, I'm sorry for 'dumping' you. And don't call Henry 'Egg Salad'! You know I hate that.  
But, congratulations on getting engaged! Wait, who makes my little heart go pitter-patter? Not Egg salad? I mean, Henry? What, you mean you?"  
He shook his head, "Hell, no! I thought I had a shot at one time, maybe.  
But, I'm talking about your over-protective boss that fired me and threatened to fire Egg…sorry, Henry, and from what I heard, laid out some big-shot billionaire's son you were hanging out with for a while at the UN building!  
The same guy who gave me the evil eye all night for trying to put my arm around you and who went totally ballistic when he caught your little closing act with Henry at Wicked, you know, your lover boy, Daniel!  
Come on, B. We both know he's the only guy who you would always drop everything for and go running the minute he called."  
She blushed, even though she tried to hide it. "I'm right, aren't I? Did something finally blossom between you two?"  
"Maybe" She shrugged, not really wanting to 'spill the beans', especially to Gio; simply because she didn't really want to give him the satisfaction, but she couldn't seem to wipe the smile off her face.  
He grinned, "Whoa, look at you! You're lighting up like a Christmas tree, Betty! That's great!  
Is that why you're still at Mode? For him? You should really be honest with the guy and tell him fashion isn't your passion, though. You don't want to end up resenting him for holding you back."  
She started to protest, but he got up, "Listen, B, I gotta run. My flight is leaving in less than an hour. It was great seeing you, again. Take care of yourself.  
I'm happy you're finally happy with the guy you were meant to be with all along. You deserve it. You're a good person. Even if you did break my heart!"  
He laughed, "Seriously, though, you need to do what you are really good at-or it could drive you apart. Good luck!"  
She called Daniel the minute he left. "Hi! Sorry I didn't answer right away. You'll never guess who I literally ran into just now!"  
"Who?"  
"Gio."  
She noticed a slight pause, "Really? What did he want? Is he still there?"  
"No. He was on his way to catch a flight to Rome. Evidently, he lives there now. And he's engaged to some girl he met there, I guess.  
He seems happy. It was sort of funny, though. Guess who he said makes my heart go pitter-patter?"  
"I don't know. Him? Henry?" He sounded jealous and rather bitter.  
Betty smiled, "No, silly. You!"  
She could tell he was smiling, now, "Oh, yeah?"  
"Yes! But…I have very bad news, Daniel. The press did catch us kissing."  
"Yeah, I heard. But, they didn't get a picture of your face, so they just know 'man-whore' Daniel Meade was seen making out in the London Eye. It'll blow over.  
Since you're not Jennifer Lopez or whoever is most in the news right now, they'll thankfully move onto the next celebrity being bad they can catch in the act. I wouldn't worry about it, hon…sorry."  
She smiled, "It's okay, you can call me honey. I think after last night, I'll allow it.  
Listen, Daniel, the Queen Hilda wedding party is going to check in over there while you are at the next show this afternoon, so, I guess…I'll see you tonight?  
I'm going to be 'sick' while the other ladies hit the town again. Uh, maybe I could just come up to your room and see if my good old, dear friend Daniel has some aspirin or cough medicine?" she let out two fake coughs, smiling.  
"Sounds like a nice, quiet night to me. I hope you don't catch me in my silk jammies. I'll blow my image as a playboy, if you catch me alone, resting."  
"You have silk 'jammies'? I thought you always slept in your boxers? Or at least, when you're alone."  
"Is this conversation in response to my text earlier? The one you left me hanging on so you could hang out with one of your ex-boyfriends?  
Are you sure he has a fiancé? He didn't ask you to go to Rome with him again, did he? Cause I'm not offering to spring for it, this time."  
She laughed, and got up, to head back to her hotel and pack for their 'move' to their suite at The Claridge.  
"Daniel, I promise, you have NOTHING to be jealous of as far as Gio is concerned. He said I lit up when I talked about you, actually."  
She could tell he was grinning, now, "Really? I'd like to light you up right now, honey. Hmm…I think I like calling you that.  
Oh, by the way, what's the story on Prince Wills? Is he going to be available to be our 'cover' sometime tomorrow, perhaps?  
I have plans that include a nanny and a road trip to the country with him if you think Christina will trust us with her only son."  
"Ooh, look at you, Daniel! Very double-oh-seven of you! Covert operations to leave the city, huh?  
Yeah, well, Prince Will's mum is more than happy to lend out her little man to, what did Hilda call it, "aid and abet' our time together.  
Stuart's bringing William with him and doing the hand off to Christina tonight, while you're at the show, and then tomorrow, we'll babysit when she goes.  
And can we watch him all night, so she and Stuart can hopefully celebrate his transfer? You have a nanny? Is she pretty? She isn't a model, is she?"  
He laughed, "Betty, please. After your little kissing demonstration this morning or last night or whatever, do you honestly think I'm ever going to be happy with another woman?"  
She smiled, ear-to-ear, "Hmmm…that sounds promising. That's really sweet, Daniel. I have to admit, you do kind of make my heart go pitter-patt.  
Gio was right about that. Last night was…really amazing." She blushed as she walked, getting into the 'lift' to go to her room.  
"I'd say that was a great word for it, Betty. Amazing. You're pretty amazing. I'm usually happy enough, going to these stupid fashion shows, watching the models. I'm sure lots of guys would be glad to trade places with me.  
But, honestly, I wish I didn't have to go. I'd rather be with you. I hate that we have to wait all day to see each other again."  
She smiled, "This is silly, Daniel. We've seen each other for years. We see each other all the time."  
"Yeah, but…now, things are different, Betty."  
"I know. I wish I could see you right now, too. You were funny this morning when you told me to go take a cold shower! So, did you get one?"  
"Huh? Oh, you mean a cold shower? Well, yeah. Sort of. I actually started out with hot water and it turned cold on me, so that sort of worked out, I guess. Speaking of getting hot…"  
"Were we?" She laughed.  
"We are now. You never did tell me what you were wearing."  
"Is this an obscene call?"  
"Hmm…that depends. Do you want it to be? I could make it one, if you like. But, it'll probably just make me run over there and attack you in person. And that would mess up all our planning to stay out of the press. So, maybe we should just wait."  
"To answer your question, I'm wearing…I'll tell you what. A picture is worth a thousand words. I'll send you one."  
"Are you going to flash me again?" he sounded like a little boy.  
"No. I'm just showing you what I'm wearing."  
"Is it…just a smile?" he sounded hopeful.  
"NO! Silly, I hope not! I just was outside before. Here. I'm sending it. Now, I've got to pack and you've got to get ready for the show.  
I'll see you for a few minutes before you leave and then, later tonight, in your uh…suite, okay?"  
"Okay. Bye."  
He grinned, looking at the picture of her in a pretty red dress, with a black design and a slightly low-cut top.  
Nothing scandalous, somewhat conservative, even. But very flattering and surprising for her, he knew.  
He texted, "Sexy! I like you in red. Are you going to give me a 'preview' of your under wear for later, too, or keep me guessing all day?"  
She laughed, and wrote back, "I'm going to change into something more 'comfortable' for tonight; I just wore this for my interview." CRAP! Did she just send that? She did! Oh, no!  
Sure enough, she got a call right away. She wondered if she should let it go to voice mail, let him cool off a bit, first. He actually sounded calm, surprisingly.  
"I…hi, Daniel."  
"Uh, I was just wondering what that text meant, Betty? What interview?"  
"Well, I was really surprised, but a few days ago, Christina introduced me to Lindsey Dunne and he asked me to come today for an interview."  
"Linsey Dunne, as in Dunne Publishing, Lindsey Dunne? You had an interview with him today? When were you planning on dropping that little bomb, Betty?"  
"It's nothing, really. He offered me a job writing a fashion column for him. It's something I can do in my spare time, just as a free-lance thing, you know?"  
He sounded relieved, "Oh. I see." He paused, "But, did you actually know when you went there today what kind of job he was going to offer you?"  
"Well, not exactly."  
"I see."  
"Daniel? Are you okay? Are…we okay?"  
"Sure, Betty. We're fine. Aren't we always? Why wouldn't we be fine?  
I mean, you just went on a job interview with Meade Publications biggest overseas competitor without even giving me a heads up, after we…uh…I'll talk to you later!" He hung up.  
An hour later, Daniel was still pacing, trying to calm himself down. What the hell was Betty doing, going on job interviews here in London? Why would she do that? And why didn't she at least discuss it with him?  
He heard a knock on his door, "Room service, senior Meade. I have your towels."  
He impatiently called, "I didn't order any damn towels."  
"It's for your massage, senior."  
He rolled his eyes, and answered the door, "Look, I didn't order any...Betty! What do you want? I'm busy."  
"What, getting massages? Daniel, honey, we need to talk."  
"Don't call me honey. I'm mad at you right now."  
"I know you are." She took her glasses off, then started taking off her fake uniform.  
"What the heck are you doing? Knock it off. That's not going to work."  
"You wanted to know what I was wearing underneath my clothes. I told you a picture is worth a thousand words, Daniel."

Chapter 8: Chapter 8

London Falling  
Chapter 8  
Betty bit her lip, and closed her eyes for a second, thinking she must be nuts right now, but she knew Daniel and she knew one way to get him to listen to her for sure, and she really needed him to listen to what she had to say.  
She kept walking towards him, as she unbuttoned the white shirt she was wearing.  
He backed away from her, but she kept her eyes on him, and couldn't help but smile slightly when he backed himself onto the couch. He lost his balance and fell onto it. She started unbuttoning his shirt, as well.  
He looked up at her, trying not to react, but his voice had softened, "Betty, I'm still really upset with you."  
She nodded, as she straddled his lap, but moved her face closer to his, "I know, Daniel.  
And you have every right to be. The truth is, I planned on telling you about the interview last night, but you sort of distracted me.  
But, that's no excuse, I know. I'm sorry. Really sorry. I should have told you about it; you're right. But, can we please talk about this,honey?"  
She got closer to his lips, "Please? I just want you to…talk to me." She slid her hands down across his chest, and he was clearly struggling to maintain his composer.  
"Talk to me? This is how you talk to me, Betty? You're…"  
"I'm what? Bothering you, again?" She smiled.  
"YES! Yes, you're bothering me, okay! You're pissing me off, though." He grabbed her hands, and his anger was back,  
"How could you do something like that? I thought we had something really special, Betty. And now…I feel like I don't even know you all of a sudden."  
She sighed, brushing back his hair from his forehead, "We do have something special, Daniel. Do you want me to try and explain? Or do you need to yell at me some more to feel better?"  
"What I need is…I need…I need you, damnit!" He pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing her hard, and laying on top of her.  
When he got off her, he helped her up, and looked into her eyes, putting his hand on the back of her hair, "Betty, can you explain why you did it? I want to understand. It's not like you to be deceitful. You really hurt me."  
She touched his cheek. "I know. I'm sorry. I swear; I was going to tell you. I didn't know how. It's just…I'm so bored working at a fashion magazine, Daniel!  
Honestly, who cares what Heidi Klum is wearing or what kind of material Michael Kors is using in his spring line?  
I mean, people all over the world are dying, are being born, some are doing terrible things to each other, some are doing incredible things for each other, they all need to hear about things that will uplift or inform them.  
But they don't need to spend three thousand dollars on a dress! That's NOT why I got into publishing. Fashion is not my path, not what I want to keep doing. I'm sorry; Daniel, but I can't keep doing what I don't love!"  
He nodded, understanding. "Okay, I get that. You've been honest about that since you first started at Mode. I was ready and willing to let you go a few times before."  
"I know that, and don't you think I appreciate it? That's what makes this so hard. I don't want to leave…you, Daniel. I just think I need to leave Mode."  
"Fine, but do you have to do it in a country across the ocean from me?"  
"I…look; it's not really an issue, Daniel. I told you, I can do the column for Dunne and still live in New York."  
"Yes, but, you also seemed more than willing to consider moving here.  
So, that tells me at least part of you wanted him to offer you something full time, in London, not New York. Do you want to live here?"  
She shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe a little part of me does. I just know; I need to learn, to grow. I need a change."  
"So, where does that leave us?"  
She shook her head, shrugging, "Confused. I didn't know…how you felt about me when I agreed to the interview, Daniel."  
He sighed, "I understand that. And that's my fault for waiting so long to speak up.  
But, you have to understand, I'm as my mother told me 'dumber than a rock when it comes to recognizing my own feelings', Betty. I didn't KNOW how much you really meant to me until…"  
"I flashed you?" she smiled.  
He shook his head, "No! Well, maybe a little that, and the kissing. But mainly, until I realized you might feel the same about me, I guess. I just always figured you thought of me as a big player that you'd never be interested in dating."  
"I did."  
"Thanks!"  
"No, I just meant…I never thought you would be interested in dating me, either, Daniel. I mean, face it, you're way out of my league!"  
He took her hand, "That's stupid. That's not true. You're amazing."  
"You still think so? Or did I mess things up?" Her eyes were glassy.  
He pushed aside her hair from her face, "No. I get it, Betty. You have to do what you believe in. But, you can't tell me there aren't places in New York where you could get a job outside of fashion.  
I mean, you could even still work for Meade, at a different magazine, if you wanted. I do have some pull there."  
"I know. I think honestly, I was just flattered that someone like Mr. Dunne would ask me to work for him. And curious to see what he was offering. Does that make sense?  
No offense, but being hired so you wouldn't want to sleep with me wasn't all that great for my ego."  
He grinned, "Yeah, well, obviously, that's out the window now. I told you my dad was wrong, Betty. Very wrong. About a lot of things, but especially about you. But if he were still alive I'd have to thank him for hiring you, because actually, you are the ONLY woman I want to sleep with from now on."  
"From now on? That's kind of a bold statement. How do you know for sure? We haven't even slept together yet. You might not like it. I might be terrible."  
He smirked, "Are you coming on to me, Betty? Is that a dare or something? Because, I gotta tell you, while I'm definitely tempted, I'm going to have to give you a rain check right now."  
"Because you're still mad at me?" she leaned closer, to nibble on his ear.  
He laughed, "No, silly. Mmm…you can still do that, if you want. But, I just have this whole little seduction thing planned for tonight.  
So, I'd rather wait and sweep you off your feet then."  
He grabbed her waist and pulled her back down on the couch, making her giggle,  
"Although…I suppose, since you did go to all the trouble to come here and sneak up to my room, and do your little strip tease number for me, I could give in to your very tempting little flirtations here and now and bag the whole romance thing for tonight."  
She pushed him off her and sat up, "No! I want the 'romance thing', Daniel. I was just trying to get you to stop being mad at me."  
"Okay. Mission accomplished. I understand. I'm not mad. I could never stay mad at you, especially with your shirt off." He smirked. "I think I like this bra even better than the one last night."  
She grabbed her shirt off the ground and started putting it back on. He blinked his eyes, pathetically, "What, no massage? Where's my 'room service'. I expect to be serviced, seniorita!"  
She laughed, "I'd actually love to, but…Hilda's going to be mad if I don't help her and Amanda.  
And I did promise Christina I'd meet her to help with William, especially since that was your idea to use her son. Are we…still on for everything or are you still too upset with me?  
I feel terrible that you went to so much trouble for me and then I was stupid and hurt your feelings by not including you in what was going on with me. Forgive me?"  
He smiled, "Yeah, well, I've messed up so many times over the years, I guess you're entitled. But, Betty, listen…" he grabbed both her hands and kissed them, then held her face, looking at her, but noticed her squinting at him, "oh, wait can you see me?"  
"Sort of, you're a little fuzzy, though. It sort of helped me have the nerve to try and 'seduce' you if I couldn't really see you that well, actually. I'm not much of a seductress."  
He went and got her glasses and handed them to her, then sat down next to her on the couch. "I beg to differ; I felt very seduced with your little act both earlier and just now.  
You definitely affected me, I know. Not that I really wanted to resist you. Well, maybe a little this time.  
But, even when I was mad at you, I still…you know… cared about you, Betty. I just think if we're going to make things work between us, we have to be honest with each other.  
I know every time I tried to hide something from you, is when something really bad happened. And this has got to be a two-way thing for us. You include me in your big decisions, and I include you in mine. We're a team, right?"  
She smiled, nodding, and went to brush his hair back from his face. He put his hand over hers and she said, "Team Daniel?"  
He shook his head, and kissed her hand, "Team Daniel AND Betty."  
She bit her lip, blushing, "I like that. I like being on our own little team together."  
His voice was gruff with emotion, as he pulled her closer, "We always have been, Betty. It's always felt like you and me against the world at Mode.  
And I know, together we can do anything. You gave me the confidence to feel stronger, to believe in myself over the years. Now, we just have to believe in us, okay?"  
She looked into his eyes as he bent down to kiss her. "Okay. Team Daniel and Betty"  
Betty hurried to sneak back out of Daniel's room and found Hilda and Amanda, checking into their suite at the front desk. They had her luggage as well as their own.  
Hilda raised her eyebrows when she saw Betty, "This is how you're paying for the upgrade in our accommodations, mami?  
I thought you said Daniel was doing this. Let me guess, he offered, but as usual, you were too stubborn to let him and now you're working off the extra money.  
Well, forget it. I was fine where we were before. You were already working yourself to death, gone all the time. Now I'm never going to see you.  
And if you get the job here, which you probably did, I'm never going to see my baby sister!" She looked as if she was ready to cry.  
Betty shook her head, rolling her eyes as she patted Hilda on the back, "Are you done? First of all, the job was only a column I can do in my spare time, okay?  
And as for this, it's fake. I'm not really the maid. I was just sneaking into Daniel's room without the press noticing. Your room is already paid for, Daniel insisted. It was his idea, so I let him do it."  
Amanda looked at Betty's attire, "Very believable. So, did you go turn down his bed for him, B? With you in it?" She laughed. "I know I…"  
Betty shook her head, and winked at Hilda, "No, actually I pretended to be a maid and offered him a massage.  
Then when he was angry with me, for not letting him know about my interview, I started to do a strip tease for him and took his shirt off, but we just kissed a lot on the couch, before he told me he's got some romantic dinner planned for tonight where he plans to 'sweep me off my feet', so I left, before we got too carried away, and so I could help you two get settled and then meet Christina."  
She sighed, "Look, Amanda, I realize you and Daniel had your little fling off and on for a long time. I'm not trying to compete with that.  
I'm not trying to compete with you. But…you have Tyler now. So, I'd really appreciate it if you wouldn't keep bringing up the fact that you used to sleep with Daniel, okay?  
We're friends now, and friends don't do that. It's not nice. I know I can't ever be a size zero and I'm not trying to be.  
But, believe it or not, some guys, including Daniel appreciate women with curves. At least, that's what he told me when we were making out."  
Hilda chuckled, "That's telling her, Betty!"  
Amanda looked surprised Betty had actually been so honest with her, "You know, Betty, I could tell when you first started working at Mode that Daniel had a thing for you. I think you have it backwards.  
I was always competing with you. I could see Daniel respected you and listened to you and that you were really going to go far in your career. I could have helped you more with your look if you would have ever listened to me.  
But you were always Miss Independent, do things your own way, and that's fine. I wasn't jealous of you and Daniel so much as I was jealous of you.  
I could tell you knew where you were going and were smart and I wished I could be that way, sometimes. But…you're right. I'll try not to bring up anything about Daniel anymore."  
"Thank you."  
She looked at Betty's uniform, "Do you think I could get one of those in my size? Tyler would probably like me dressing up to 'serve him' in it when I get back!"


	3. Ch 9-12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> LONDON FALLING (Re-Posting Chapters 9-12)
> 
> Feb. 8th, 2013 at 8:07 PM

Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own Ugly Betty. All characters from the show are only used for entertainment purposes. No infringement is intended in edited lyrics from songs quoted. Not for commercial purposes. All commercial rights to these belong solely to their original writers. 

 

After helping Hilda and Amanda get settled in the suite, Betty took off to meet Christina at the train station.  
She smiled as she saw her friend, sketching at a table. "Hey! What's that? Your latest line? Are you excited about maybe moving to London?"  
Christina looked up when she saw Betty, quickly putting away her sketches and shaking her head, dismissively. "It would be bloody amazin if it all works out.  
But, no use countin on anything till we know fer sure. So, how did things go with Mr. Dunne? Did he offer you a permanent job here?" Betty could tell how hopeful Christina sounded.  
"I sure miss you! I'd love it if you moved here. But I understand you'd miss your family."  
Betty shook her head, "Sorry, it was just for a fashion column that I can do part-time and submit from New York. Nothing full-time here."  
"Did you tell Daniel about it? How did he take it?"  
She rolled her eyes, "Not too well, actually. I accidentally sent him a text about my interview and he completely freaked out. He practically hung up on me and was really angry at first."  
"Oh, no! You were able to talk to him and he's okay about it now, though?"  
"Well, I used the maid's uniform to sneak up to his room and trick him into letting me in."  
She laughed, "How did that go over?"  
Betty blushed, "Uh, pretty well, after I sort of…came onto him."  
Christina was practically doubled over with laughter, "YOU, Betty? Came onto Daniel? That's hilarious!"  
"Thanks!"  
"No, I just meant, it's so unlike you! I'm proud of you, luv. It shows you have confidence in yourself. As well you should. So…just how far did you take things with Daniel?"  
She smiled, "Not THAT far. We just kissed a lot. He said he's got something romantic planned for tonight, though, so I'm a little nervous about what that means.  
I wanted to re-assure you, though, that we're still going to babysit William for you tomorrow so you can go to the show and hopefully if you and Stuart have something to celebrate, you two can have the night, too.  
Daniel has some big plan to take us all into the country he said, including a nanny, as back-up. I'm really excited to see William. I'm sure he's grown even since the last pictures you sent me. How much is he talking now?"  
She lit up, "He wasn't sayin much more than 'ba' 'ma' and 'da' a few months ago, but now, he's suddenly talkin back to us, in his own cute little sentences.  
Granted, their only three or four word sentences, but that's about the same as Stuart can manage when he's had a pint or two."  
Betty smiled at Christina's obvious pride in her little boy. "Oh, my goodness, is that him? He's so adorable, Christine! Ooh, can I hold him?"  
Daniel was trying to stay awake during the fashion show. He had been busy since Betty left his hotel room, planning for their evening together.  
He was no Mister Romance, but with a few suggestions from his mom and wracking his memory for things Betty had mentioned over the years, he was hoping he could make it a perfect night for them. He had to admit, he couldn't remember ever being this nervous. He knew as he had told Betty, she was the only woman he wanted to be with now.  
Of course, that begged the question, how did she feel about him? She hadn't come right out and said so, but she had been all over him, after all, so he was fairly confident that she shared his feelings. Daniel knew that wasn't something Betty did often. Or at all, even. She had confided in him how uncomfortable she had been, trying to heat things up with Matt.  
But that was years ago. And, obviously, she had built up her confidence quite a bit since those days. In fact, the more he thought about how cute she was, giving him those steamy kisses before she had left this morning, and getting so carried away when they first kissed on the London Eye (not that he hadn't, too), the more it made him smile.  
Then, there was her very confident partial strip show for him earlier meant to deflect his anger. It worked, too. She knew him pretty well, it seemed. She definitely knew how to distract him!  
He had been thinking about what happened with her going on the interview and was trying to understand how she must feel; working in a job that no longer challenged her. He understood that feeling more than she knew, in fact.  
He had been having similar feelings for some time now. In fact, he had been trying to decide if he wanted to take online courses to finish his MBA, and start a business of his own.  
He was getting tired of being the 'only one in the room who didn't earn his job.' That dig had stuck with Daniel for years. Mainly because he knew it was true.  
He never felt as if he deserved his job at Mode and was anxious to start over in a business he could actually call his own.  
He didn't know what yet, other than a basic idea that it would likely have to relate to publishing. He was good with PR and finding and maintaining good advertisers.  
When the show ended, Daniel managed to avoid the press for the most part; ignoring questions about the 'mystery girl' he had been seen kissing in the London Eye. Possibly no one had identified her because Betty's glasses had gotten knocked off in their wrestling around.  
Betty left Christina and her family, wishing Stuart good luck on his interview.  
She came back to the new room for 'the wedding party' and looked through some of the new clothes she had brought on the trip, deciding on a basic 'little black dress' that she thought looked nice on her and started to get ready for her date.  
Hilda and Amanda came back to the room to change after sightseeing. Hilda shook her head, "Betty, honey, you're not wearing that on your date with Daniel, are you? No, no. That's too…fuddy-duddy."  
"It is not! You can't go wrong with basic black, right?"  
"Well, no, but…when it's going to be your first time together, it's a little different, Betty."  
"Come on, let's take her down to the dress shop downstairs and find something."  
"Yeah, we'll get you clothes to start out and some nice lingerie, too."  
"Lingerie?"  
"Well, what do you think you're going to do in his hotel room, mami, play Scrabble all night?" Hilda winked.  
Betty knew her sister was right, of course. Daniel had made it pretty clear how he felt and she hadn't exactly said or done anything to make him think she objected.  
In fact, she had been pretty intense towards him, she realized. There was her partial strip tease. To say nothing of her jumping on him during their kiss in the London Eye, and of course, starting off their 'affair' with flashing the man!  
Now she was starting to get really nervous, the more she thought about it. Of course, to Daniel, 'romance' met sex! Not to mention, shewas going up to his hotel room, after all.  
"Betty, are you okay? Are you having a stroke or something? I forget what you're supposed to do when old people freak out like this."  
Hilda hit her, "Betty's not old, you moron! She's just sort of having an 'aha' moment that she is actually going to be having sex with her best friend and I think it's freaking her out."  
Betty blinked and looked at Hilda, "YES, I'm freaking out! I KNEW this, but…I just don't think it dawned on me that all this flirting and kissing was leading somewhere.  
I admit, I liked how Daniel was you know, appreciating me flirting with him, but talking about it and actually doing it are two very different things!  
I mean, this is Daniel Meade we're talking about. He's been with so many women, and me, I…oh, wow, I think I'm going to hyperventilate. What was I thinking, telling him I'd come up to his room? I must have been insane!"  
"NO, Betty, you were just…enjoying his attention. That's perfectly normal."  
"Yeah, Betty. You're used to being…uh, less pretty. So, you're not used to the fact that when you flirt with a guy like Daniel and kiss him like you were on the London Eye…"  
Betty put her hand to her head, "That was nothing. You should have seen how I kissed him in his room! I don't know what came over me. I sort of…lost it. He is a really good kisser. He made me forget, well, my name, actually."  
Hilda and Amanda both laughed, but Amanda surprisingly, patted Betty's arm, "Look, he's a player, granted. But, Betty, you forget. He's also been your friend all these years.  
He knows you like nobody else. He probably knows you have been sort of operating out of your comfort zone. Just remind him you're a little nervous. Honestly, he probably is, too."  
"Daniel, nervous? I doubt that!"  
"Think about it, B. Fine, he's had sex with tons of girls, granted. But none of them were his best friend before. The girl he's seen blossom before him. The girl he knows so well and is in love with.  
This is a first for him, too. He didn't even know Molly as well as he knows you, Betty. I'm willing to bet even the most eligible bachelor might be going through some nerves about tonight."  
Betty looked at Amanda. Sometimes, she could be a relationship 'savant', it seemed. As silly and out of touch with reality as she was in many respects, the girl knew what she was talking about when it came to men. And she knew Daniel, of course.  
"You really think…he's in love with me? He hasn't said he is."  
She shrugged, "Well, he wouldn't, would he? Come on, he is a man. Guys put that kind of stuff off as long as possible.  
If he thought he was going to lose you, he might let it spill. But, he's probably not even said it out loud or allowed himself to think about it much."  
Betty thought about it, as she somewhat mindlessly allowed Hilda and Amanda to help her select an outfit for her rendezvous. She couldn't stop thinking about it, in fact.

CHAPTER 10

Song quoted, 'The LIttle Things" by One Direction.

Betty stood before the mirror in the luxury suite, a somewhat terrified look on her face as she surveyed herself. "How did I let you two talk me into this dress?  
It didn't seem this tight and low-cut in the store! I can't go see Daniel dressed like this. He'll think I'm slutty or something."  
"HEY! I've got a dress just like it back in New York that you said looked great on me." Amanda pouted.  
"And I think it looks fantastic on you. Betty, I love you, but until just these past six months or so, you dress like a color blind schoolteacher from the eighties sometimes, I swear!"  
"Not nice, Hilda! Just because I don't feel the need to walk around shoving my breasts in everyone's faces like you!"  
"Ooh, sister cat fight. I should video you two. Guys would be turned on. In fact, I think I am…I miss Tyler!"  
"That gives me an idea. Let me take a picture, here, I'm sending that to my son. If Justin says it's not too 'slutty', you're wearing it, no more arguments, deal?"  
Betty thought for a second. She knew Justin had far better taste than his mother. "Fine. I've got too much make-up on, too!  
I can't believe you talked me into trying contacts. I'm taking my glasses, too, in case these pop out of my eyes or something. I don't want to be blind all night. I have to see."  
"Alright, but take the nice glasses Amanda picked out for you as your backup, not those ugly red ones."  
"I love my red glasses."  
"They're broken, mami. You've run out of places to tape them. Give it up." Her phone rang, and she held up a finger, "Justin, baby, hey, it's mami! How are you? Great, sweetie. How's Bobby? Ah…really? That's sweet, oh…uh.  
Listen, did you get the picture I sent you of your Aunt Betty? She thinks the dress is too much. You get the final say. Amanda and I say it looks great on her. Okay, I'll let you talk to her. By, baby. I love you." She handed Betty her phone.  
"Hi, Justin. Yes, your mother and Amanda talked me into getting it at the store and now I'm not feeling too confident it."  
She paused to answer his question, "A…date. Yes, with Daniel. Okay. You're sure? Really? Well, okay. If you say so. Thanks, sweetie. I'll see you when we get back. Take care." She rolled her eyes and gave Hilda back her phone.  
"Well?" Hilda smirked, enjoying being right.  
"He said it looked really good and I should definitely wear it. Are you happy?" She bit her bottom lip, obviously getting more nervous by the minute.  
"Maybe I should just call him and…tell him we'll do this another time or something. I don't like that he wasn't feeling well.  
I got him some new gloves, but…I could have someone from the hotel take them to him if he's going out or just get them to him tomorrow when we babysit William."  
Amanda and Hilda exchanged glances, and they both pushed Betty towards the door. When she left, they smiled at each other, and gave one another a high five, then got ready to go out themselves.  
Betty put her hand up over her eyes, then looked down at her cleavage and shook her head, thinking she might as well be flashing Daniel again. This was nuts! He was going to laugh at her the minute he saw her dressed like this.  
Then she'd turn bright red and be so embarrassed her contacts were going to go rolling on the floor and she was going to be blind as a bat and bump into something like she had before and fall like an idiot.  
Daniel was having his own issues with feeling unprepared. He had ordered dinner from the restaurant and hoped Betty would think everything he was doing was romantic.  
He couldn't actually remember ever feeling jittery before a first date before. But that's sort of what this was, wasn't it? Or you could also consider it a thousandth date. It depended on what you considered constituted a date.  
They had had so many dinners together, watched so many movies, stayed over at each other's apartments, been to each other's family's houses, even. What hadn't they already done that you did on a date, he wondered?  
But, would Betty look at it that way or would she think he was moving way too fast? She may have been flirty just this past day or two but that didn't give him the right to assume anything was going to happen between them tonight, he knew.  
After all, she had probably only agreed to come to his hotel room to avoid being seen out in public by the press. He told himself not to expect…anything.  
Just follow Betty's lead. Why the hell was he sweating? He already took two showers, for crying out loud, he told himself he had to calm down as he continued to pace, waiting for her.  
Betty stood outside the door, as she drew in a breath. This was it she thought, the moment of truth. She felt just like she had on her first day at Mode. She just hoped she didn't do anything totally stupid tonight like run into a door again (or trip over anything!)  
She shook her head, and squared back her shoulders, oh, oops, maybe she'd better not do that again with this dress! She bit her lip and gave herself a pep talk. This was just Daniel, after all.  
Nothing weird about two old friends having dinner together in his hotel room so they could be out of the public eye, right? She knocked softly and he opened it right away, as if he had been listening for her by the door.  
She looked up and smiled, "Hi."  
He blinked hard when he saw her, "Hi! Wow! You look, you look…wow!" He stood, dumbfounded at her for a moment, just staring, then shook himself, "Sorry, come in. The food should be here in about an hour or so. I've got some champagne."  
He backed up allowing her to walk in and seemed mesmerized. "Sorry to keep staring. I think it's your eyes. I like seeing your face, Betty."  
She nodded, grinning slightly, "My eyes, huh? That's a new one. I almost believe you."  
He smiled, trying not to let her see him also noticing her dress, of course, as she certainly knew he would. She might be blind without her contacts or glasses, but Daniel definitely wasn't.  
He led her to the French doors that led out to the terrace and had amazing views of the city. "Talk about wow, Daniel! This was pretty in the daylight but at night! It's absolutely gorgeous!"  
"Yeah, I know you didn't bring a coat, but if you want I've got one you can put on if you want to check out the view better outside. It's really pretty out there. Hang on."  
He went to get his wool overcoat and put it over her shoulders gently, leaving one arm around her as he opened the door to the terrace, then he grabbed the champagne and two glasses and poured them each a drink.  
They toasted to each other and took a sip, looking out at the city below.  
"This is so nice! You can see so much from here."  
"Yeah, I was out here earlier, looking around at the city as it got dark. It's really a great place. I haven't been here in years, myself. I forgot what a fantastic city London is."  
She looked down for a minute. "Daniel, I want to apologize again for…well, everything I've done since you got here. I'm sorry I've been so...crazy. I don't know what came over me. I'm going through something, maybe because Hilda's getting married, I don't know.  
You just came here to be nice and help me have more time with my sister. She and I got to spend all afternoon together, thanks to you. I hope the fashion show wasn't too long or boring for you."  
He shook his head, "No, it was fine. I'm glad you got to spend more time with Hilda. I bet she's getting excited about the wedding."  
Betty laughed, "Honestly? She's getting crazier by the day! Now, she's decided to go on some nutty diet Amanda told her about to lose five more pounds before the wedding.  
She's going to be impossible to live with, I just know. She insisted on me getting this dress. It's more her style than mine, really. But Justin gave it the thumbs up, so…"  
"I think I'm going to have to see about making sure Justin gets lots of time at Mode. The kid has great taste. And although I don't always agree with your sister's fashion choices, I have to say, she steered you right, Betty.  
That dress, you look…insanely hot! I thought I was going to pass out when I opened the door."  
"Oh, please, not again, Daniel!"  
He laughed, "Yeah, sorry I scared you before."  
"Are you feeling better?"  
"Yeah. I think I have a temperature, though." She looked concerned.  
He smiled, "Of course, it could just be that dress."  
She blushed, "Thanks. I'm serious, though. Do you feel okay? You look a little…flushed."  
"Again, Betty, I think I have to blame you. You are really something tonight. I think lately, every time I see you, you look even more beautiful than the last."  
She smiled at him and took his hand. "Is this weird?"  
"What? You mean, because it's us? No. I mean, maybe a little. I don't know, it's like things are different between us, now. When you left, I missed you like crazy, Betty.  
I know you were only gone a few days, but it was like I couldn't think right without you. I had no idea I'd miss you so much."  
She lowered her eyes again. "That's sweet, Daniel. I missed you, too. I called you a few times, but you were busy."  
"Yeah, well, I have to admit, part of the time I was busy making arrangements to come here, Betty. Once things went south with Tyler, when my mom was dropping me off after picking me up from jail, she told me I should follow whatever made me happiest. It took me all of two seconds to realize that was being with you."  
"Really?" She narrowed her eyes, "I bet you say that to all the girls, Daniel. Is this one of your lines?"  
He grinned wolfishly, as he leaned down to whisper, "If it was, I'd certainly never tell you, young lady. Now, let's get back inside, it's cold out here."  
They went in and sat down on the sofa, both looking around, somewhat nervously. Finally, they both started to say each other's name, and laughed, "Go ahead, Betty. You first."  
"No, it's fine, Daniel. You go first."  
"Well, I was just going to say, that I've noticed lately you seem to be going through all these changes in your life. I'm not mad anymore about the interview. In fact, I think I understand where you're coming from, Betty.  
I've been going through some changes of my own, lately. I'm tired of working in a place where my last name is the only reason I have my job. I've been thinking more and more about going back to school, and finishing my MBA.  
I have a few credits that I can use, and I've actually looked into some programs that would give me a minor in International Studies if I study abroad.  
In the meantime, I'm looking into starting my own business. Maybe even somewhere that I can be closer to DJ and Alexis."  
Betty understood what he was saying, "You mean, you're thinking of moving here? Or…Paris?"  
He shrugged, "Well, Paris is great, but…as my nephew keeps pointing out to me, my French really sucks! So, somewhere that I wouldn't have to learn a second language might be a bit easier to handle."  
"What about Mode?"  
He shrugged, "What about it, Betty? Wilhelmina is more than capable of handling Mode by herself. We both know that.  
With my mom and possibly Tyler, eventually both handling things in New York and me and Alexis both overseeing Meade's European interests, my dad's company will actually do better having both our American and international companies run or at least checked in on by actual family members should make our shareholders happy.  
I'm going to talk to the current CFO at Meade's UK offices next week, actually.  
You know…they have some decent hard-hitting news publications right here in London, Betty. Just in case that interests you."  
He winked at her, "But I'm sure a good researcher like you already knew that, right?"  
She looked shocked, "Well, yeah. I guess so. I never really thought of it."  
He gave her a somewhat stern look, "Really? I see. But you didn't mind interviewing for our competitor?"  
She nodded, leaning back, still in disbelief of the bomb he had just dropped, "So…you're not going back to New York?"  
He shrugged, "Of course I am. I'll just come back here again when I've wrapped everything up in New York. But, I wouldn't miss Hilda and Bobby's wedding for the world.  
Plus, there are some papers I need to sign and I really want to see the look on Wilhelmina's face when I finally give her what she's been salivating for all these years." He laughed,  
"Who knows, maybe she'll be smiling so much, you'll even be able to tell through all the Botox, huh?  
Look, the bottom line is, I want you in my life. Even if it's in a completely different context. I think, when you left, something inside me just changed in the way I saw you.  
I know we'll always be friends, best friends in fact, but…I really want you to be more than just a friend. The truth is, I can't live without you, Betty." He stood up as a song he had selected for them came on, "Dance with me?"  
She nodded, shyly, "Okay." She was completely speechless, as they danced, her head resting against his chest, her own heart pounding like a drum gone crazy.  
She thought of all he had just told her. He wanted to move here, was this something he had really thought about?  
She knew Daniel was prone to impulsive behavior, though. Was this just an idea he came up with because of her interview with Mr. Dunne? Honestly, some of what he said did indicate these feelings he was having about his own life weren't all just about her, though.  
She listened to the words of the song, wondering if it was really how he felt about her.

Your hand fits in mine  
Like it's made just for me  
But bear this in mind  
It was meant to be  
And I'm joining up the dots with the freckles on your cheeks  
And it all makes sense to me  
I know you've never loved  
The crinkles by your eyes  
When you smile  
You've never loved  
Your stomach or your thighs,  
The dimples in your back at the bottom of your spine  
But I'll love them endlessly  
I won't let these little things slip out of my mouth  
But if I do  
It's you  
Oh, it's you they add up to  
I'm in love with you  
And all these little things  
You can't go to bed without a cup of tea  
And maybe that's the reason that you talk in your sleep  
And all those conversations are the secrets that I keep  
Though it makes no sense to me  
I know you've never loved  
The sound of your voice on tape  
You never want  
To know how much you weigh  
You still have to squeeze into your jeans  
But you're perfect to me  
I won't let these little things slip out of my mouth  
But if it's true  
It's you,  
It's you they add up to  
I'm in love with you  
And all these little things  
You'll never love yourself half as much as I love you  
You'll never treat yourself right, darling, but I want you to.  
If I let you know I'm here for you  
Maybe you'll love yourself like I love you, oh.  
And I've just let these little things slip out of my mouth  
'Cause it's you,  
Oh, it's you,  
It's you they add up to  
And I'm in love with you  
And all these little things  
I won't let these little things slip out of my mouth  
But if it's true  
It's you,  
It's you they add up to  
I'm in love with you  
And a all your little things

Chapter 11: 

hey continued to dance, Daniel's chin resting on the top of her head, Betty felt warm and comfortable, like this was a dream she didn't want to ever wake up from. A soft knock brought them both out of their trance. He looked down, grinning, "I think our dinner's here. I hope you're hungry."  
She nodded, "Sure." She secretly prayed he hadn't ordered anything too fancy (like those snails! Yuck!) She laughed as a butler came in and seated them, then lifted the lid on a large pizza.  
He grinned, "I was going to do karaoke, or maybe get my favorite, spaghetti and try that thing you thought was cute from Lady and the Tramp, but I figured this was as corny as I felt comfortable going. Here, have a slice. It's not as good as in midtown, but not bad.  
Try not to get it on that dress, though. I'd hate to have to take it off you if you spilled something on it. Oops…" He pretended to drop the slice of pizza he had started feeding her. She giggled, and took a bite.  
They looked at each other, expectantly, then the butler, spoke, "Ring when you are ready for dessert, sir."  
"Thanks." Daniel nodded.  
Betty looked at him, raising an eyebrow, "Dessert?"  
He shrugged, "Well, I thought about uh…ice cream sundaes, but I was afraid it might make you think about stupid ex-boyfriends too much, so I ordered something else they had. I think you'll like it."  
"This was really sweet, Daniel. I was worried you were going to order snails again!"  
He laughed, "What and find them hidden all over my hotel room when you didn't eat them?"  
She fed him a bite and he grabbed her hand, kissing it. "We uh…have a lot of history, huh, Betty?"  
She nodded, "Mmhmm…I don't know what to think about all this, Daniel. It's a lot to process, you know?"  
He looked at her, still holding her hand, "Too much?"  
She shook her head, "No. It's just…I guess I'm having a hard time believing it's all really happening, that's all. I mean, it feels like this is happening to a different person, not me.  
I feel disconnected to myself somehow if that makes any sense."  
He nodded, seeming to understand, "It makes perfect sense to me. I know what you mean. It's like I'm watching us from a different perspective and saying, 'hey, there we are', but my feelings are all jumbled up right now.  
I feel…different about you. About us, Betty. Do you feel that, too? God, I hope so, or else I'm going to be really embarrassed."  
She rolled her eyes, "Uh, hello, I would say so, Daniel. I'm the one who was jumping on you and kissing you like a crazy person and stripping for you…wow, you must think I'm a total slutty girl when I travel or something."  
He laughed, "Well, no. I was hoping it was just with me, but now you've got me wondering. Tell me, do you go this nuts every time you travel, Betty? I shudder to think how your cross-country trip went that time!"  
She nodded, and grinned, "Well, yes, I forgot to tell you, Daniel. I actually got married then and have a secret family in Wisconsin. My husband's name is Ralph and we have two kids, a dog and a parakeet."  
"Oh, of course, I might have guessed. Well, I hope you and Ralph will be very happy together. If you ever get tired of him, let me know.  
Or, we could just have a secret affair." He leaned to whisper, giving her goose bumps, feeling his breath against her neck.  
She giggled, "I thought that's what this was already. Minus the imaginary infidelity to uh…Ralph."  
He intertwined his hand with hers, and spoke softly, looking down at the table at first, then shifting his gaze to their hands, "I didn't want to…assume anything about tonight just because you agreed to come.  
I know there might be some kind of misunderstanding about the fact of you coming to my suite, but I realized it could also just mean we didn't want to be out in public yet with the press."  
She took a breath, "No, you didn't misunderstand, Daniel. I came here to, uh be with you."  
His eyes widened, "Oh."  
"Is that…okay?" She looked almost like the same young girl he had always wanted to protect. And yet, here she was, all grown up. Telling him she wanted him, as much as he wanted her. It was overwhelming.  
His mouth felt suddenly dry and he licked his lips, trying to focus, "Yeah, it's more than okay, Betty. It's, it's wonderful, amazing, uh…inspiring." He smirked.  
"Ha, ha! Very funny, Daniel. Are you trying to get me to change my mind?"  
He shook his head, "God, no! Please don't. I'm just sort of…well, I don't know what I am, really. Freaked out a little, honestly."  
"Don't say that! If you're freaked out, and you're supposed to be the big expert here, how do you think that makes ME feel?"  
"I'm no expert. Especially not for this, whatever it is."  
"For…what? Sex? Yes, you are! A lot more than me."  
"It's not just that, honey."  
She smiled, "So, I'm back on your list for being 'honey' now?"  
He shrugged, giving her a sly smile, "If you play your cards right, maybe. No, I was just thinking. This is…like the last time; or how do I say this right, the 'last' first time for us both, right? I mean, at least I hope so.  
Besides, if you and I can't make things work, who the hell could, you know?"  
She blushed, biting her lip, "Last first time, I like that."  
He thought a second, "Yeah. Me, too. The only thing is…well, I mean, you know, no pressure, right?"  
She rolled her eyes, "What, you mean on you? Please, Daniel. I'm the one who's going to get compared to all those skinny models."  
"No, you're not, Betty. Don't you know, all those other girls they…didn't, well, I don't want to sound crass and say they didn't mean anything to me, because that makes me sound like some kind of animal.  
It's just…I was lonely, empty. I was using them, and I know that was wrong, but I also know they used me, too.  
It wasn't…love, though. Other than the two women you obviously already know about, Sofia and Molly, it was only sex with the rest of them. I know now that there is definitely a difference.  
I don't want to just have sex with you, Betty. I…know you intimately already. We know each other so well, both of us.  
I want something more, something...permanent with you. I miss you when you're not with me. I…ah, I'm trying to avoid using the one word that seems so…not enough for how I feel, so trite, so over-used.  
I know lots of guys use it just to get a girl into bed, but I never have. That's one thing I've always held back on. Not to brag, but I never needed to do that.  
I think it's dishonest and demeaning to lie like that. I would never do that, Betty. Especially to you. You mean too much to me."  
She looked down at the table, "So, you can't say it to me, because…that's not how you feel about me, is that it, Daniel?"  
He shook his head, pulling his chair out from the table and standing, then taking her hand in his, as she stood in front of him, looking up at him, "No, it's not that at all. Of course I can say it. I love you. I'm in love with you, Betty.  
It's just that….it doesn't seem like nearly enough for how you make me feel when I think about…us. Does that make sense? It's like I need to invent another word, for you because love has been thrown around so much it loses its meaning. I adore you. I absolutely adore you, honey." He smiled at her, holding her cheek in one hand.  
She blushed, nodding in understanding, her heart racing again and thumping against her chest so hard she could barely breathe. "You do? That's…that's unbelievable, Daniel."  
"Well, believe it, Betty." He leaned closer to kiss her softly.  
She lowered her eyes, then looked up at him, "How long have you felt this way?"  
He continued to stroke her hair, and smiled, "I don't even know when I started feeling this way about you. I guess, after I gave that stupid speech at your Bloby award, maybe. I kept hearing Marc call us lovers all the time and I started thinking, why weren't we dating?  
We've both been single for a while now and we would do anything for each other. We've been through thick and thin together.  
I don't know about you, but for quite a while, now, it's like there's some energy that's suddenly different between us. Things that used to be no big deal, like how you always hug me are making me wonder how great we would be together."  
She nodded, "I know what you mean. I've felt it, too. Some kind of tension that was never there before when we're together.  
If you notice, I actually haven't been hugging you as much lately, because it was kind of freaking me out. I thought it was just me, being lonely after Matt left, since I haven't been dating."  
"Yeah, well, I haven't been going out since Amanda broke up with me and starting seeing Tyler, either. And believe me, it's not because she broke my heart."  
"I hope not. She and I have…come to an understanding about you, I think. I told her I didn't really need to hear about how you used to sleep together."  
He smiled, nodding, "Yeah, she's not exactly…discreet, is she? About me or anyone she's been with."  
Betty rolled her eyes, "That's the understatement of the year! But, I still love her for some crazy reason. She is a good person, deep down. I want her and Tyler to be happy, too. They both deserve that. Tyler, too."  
He pulled her closer, "Okay, okay. Knock it off; you're starting to sound too much like you're on Team Tyler again, now. You don't even really know the guy! You're my girl, Betty, remember?  
I hope he and Mandy will be very happy together. Honestly. I wish him the best, truly. But YOU, I want on my side, always."  
"I will be, Daniel; I promise, and…just so you know, I can say I adore you, too, or I love you. Whichever you would rather hear, because they're both true."

 

Chapter 12: 

A/N: Okay, to sort of 'set the mood' for Detty's first time together in this story, I had to find just the right soundtrack. In case you couldn't tell, I completely believe in the power of good music. I find music is vital for many great things, including helping lift our spirits or inspire us, "The only truth is music." Jack Kerouac.  
The second song is slow and romantic. I've used it for another Detty story, for that reason and because I just feel the words are perfect for them. In this case, it says what Daniel wants to say to Betty. It's Kem Owens' (nice name)'Share My Life'.  
Sorry, but I absolutely could NOT resist using the first song. It actually fits, although it's an oldie but goody and besides, you've GOT to love the beautiful young singer, right?

 

Daniel looked down at Betty, as she shyly stared at his hand over hers. His mouth went dry again, and his heart was pounding like one of those crazy monkeys playing drums right now. He swallowed, making sure he had heard her correctly, "You love me?"  
She nodded, giving him a hint of a smile. He thought of what he had just told Betty about this being their 'last' first time and wanting to make the most of it.  
Just act cool, Daniel. Pretend you're not scared to death that you're going to mess things up. You need to make this special, and at least pretend you know how to be romantic!  
Betty's thoughts were swirling, as well; He's being so sweet and romantic. How in the world did I get myself into this? I'm going to actually be with Daniel? Daniel… and ME?  
I just know I'm going to have a stroke or something right in the middle of it, with my luck! Just act cool, Betty; at least pretend like you know what you're doing!  
She tried to relax, but found she couldn't help giggling.  
He looked puzzled as he held her arms, "Am I missing something?"  
She shook her head, "No, Daniel. It's not you. It's me. I'm just…so nervous. I'm sorry, I can't help it. You know I start laughing when I'm nervous."  
He nodded, smiling, and chuckled himself, "Yeah, I remember. I'm nervous, too, you know. You're not the only one.  
We've known each other so long just as friends and never let ourselves think this way about each other."  
She nodded, "But…the last few days, we didn't have a problem."  
He shrugged, "Maybe that was because we took each other by surprise. Now it's a lot of pressure. Let's not force anything.  
We don't have to do anything right now, Betty. I know; what if we just dance some more? It felt really good, holding you in my arms."  
She nodded, "I agree. We just need to relax, and be ourselves."  
He nodded, placing a strand of her hair behind her ear, and staring into her eyes, he whispered, "It feels like we're doing something forbidden."  
She stared into his eyes, "I would think that would be kind of a 'turn on' for you, Daniel. You like doing stuff that's forbidden."  
He nodded, pulling her closer, "Hey, I'm not the one who laughed, Betty. I'm plenty turned on, actually.  
I'm just waiting till you get comfortable with the idea of me and you as more than friends."  
She bit her lip, listening to the song, "This song? Isn't it, kind of….I don't know, dated?"  
He shrugged, "Hey, my mom suggested it was sexy. It works. Plus, the singer's kind of hot."  
She rolled her eyes, as he grabbed her waist and they danced.

(Save the Best for Last, as sung by Vanessa L. Williams)  
Lyrics by Phil Galdston, Wendy Waldman and Jon Lind 

Sometimes the snow comes down in June  
Sometimes the sun goes 'round the moon  
I see the passion in your eyes  
Sometimes it's all a big surprise  
Cause there was a time when all I did was wish,  
You'd tell me this was love  
It's not the way I hoped or how I planned  
But somehow it's enough  
And now we're standing face to face  
Isn't this world a crazy place?  
Just when I thought a chance had passed  
You go and save the best for last  
All of the nights you came to me  
When some silly girl had set you free  
You wondered how you'd make it through  
I wondered what was wrong with you  
Cause how could you give your love to someone else  
And share your dreams with me  
Sometimes of everything you're looking for  
It's the one thing you can't see  
But now we're standing face to face  
Isn't this world a crazy place?  
Just when I thought a chance had passed  
You go and save the best for last  
Sometimes of everything you're looking for  
It's the one thing you can't see  
Sometimes the snow comes down in June  
Sometimes the sun goes 'round the moon  
Just when I thought our chance had passed  
You go and save the best for last  
You went and saved the best for last  
He took her by surprise as the song ended, twirling her around for a bit, then picked her up, slightly over his head and brought her down, very slowly, with his eyes on hers.  
She could barely catch her breath as he held her, just above him. She put her hands on his face and leaned down, impressed with how strong he was, glancing at his biceps, her eyes wide.  
She leaned down and kissed him, as he gradually brought her back to the ground. When they parted, he brushed her lips with his thumb, seeing how full and sensual they were, reminding himself that he needed to try and take things slow.  
But his impatience to be with her won out, and Daniel put his arms around her back, kissing her neck and shoulders, and whispered, "Should we…take this into the bedroom?"  
She nodded, "Mmhmm", and took his hand.  
He led her into the lavish bedroom, and she smiled when she saw he had dozens of daisies around the room, and had even strewn petals leading up to the bed.  
He shrugged, looking somewhat sheepish, "I know, cheesy. I told you I wasn't very good at being romantic."  
She shook her head, putting her arms around his neck, "I think it's…adorable, Daniel. Thank you."  
She pulled him down to her for a kiss, and he wrapped his arms around the back of her waist, and smiled, "You know…as much as I'm loving you in this dress"  
"You'd love me out of it more? Wow, you really are cheesy, sometimes, Daniel." She laughed.  
He rolled his eyes, "Sorry, give me a break here."  
She turned around for him to unzip her dress and she detected his hands shaking slightly. He paused, as he got to her hips and put his hands gently on them, letting her dress fall to the ground.  
Betty turned around again, as his eyes made their way appreciatively up to her red lacy panties and bra.  
"Wow! You look…insanely hot, Betty."  
She still seemed a bit shy, so he hugged her to him and whispered into her ear, "Are you okay?"  
She nodded, "Mmhmm…"  
"Don't be so nervous, Betty. I promise, I don't bite. Much." He grinned, as she rolled her eyes, when he pulled away slightly, then wrapped his arms around her and began kissing her breasts as he fumbled somewhat taking her bra off and ran his hands over her.  
He quickly grabbed the remote and turned on the music and simultaneously dimmed the lights, then lifted her up and placed her on the bed, crawling across it, looking at her and smiling.  
She giggled slightly at his actions until he started taking off her panties, deliberately leaving on her heels, while he kissed his way up her leg, "Bet I can make you stop giggling."  
Her eyes widened, "Okay." She whispered, as she closed her eyes, and lost herself completely to him.  
Now swept up herself, she pulled his mouth to hers, and kissed him intensely, reminding him of her own skills as his tongue dueled with hers. He pulled away, whispering gruffly, "You're so beautiful, Betty. I want you so much."  
She seemed intent on taking off his shirt now, but was having trouble with the buttons, since her own hands were shaking.  
He put his hands over hers and helped her with them, then kissed her hand, "Maybe I should have the butler bring in our dessert now."  
"Now? Are you kidding, Daniel? I'm not really hungry at this moment, are you?"  
"No. Well, yes, but not for food. I just wanted to see your face when you saw what I ordered. I thought it might make you less nervous about tonight."  
"What did you order?"  
"Bananas." He smirked, watching her reaction.  
First, she seemed shocked, then she laughed, "Bananas? Seriously? Why? Is the potassium good for something like, stamina or endurance or just because…"  
He raised his eyebrows, "Well, I'm sure it is, but yeah, just because. I like watching you eat, Betty. It's very sensual. I thought it might get you in the mood if you were having trouble uh…getting there."  
She ripped off the last two buttons on his shirt and threw it to the ground, then unzipped his pants, and took them down quickly; tossing them to a chair halfway across the room, and looked him square in the eyes, "Believe me, Daniel. I'm in the mood."  
She put her hands on his smooth, firm back and slid them around to his abs, and began kissing his stomach, enjoying how much he was reacting to her.  
She had a random thought, as she was kissing him, "Oh, I got your gloves, Daniel."  
He was very much into what she was doing, and looked at her, breathlessly, but slightly puzzled, "Huh? Gloves? I thought they called them 'raincoats' here. That's okay, though. I've got some, already. They're in the drawer."  
She furrowed her brow and laughed, "No! I was talking about…I meant for your hands, like actual gloves."  
"Okay…thanks. But, I'm definitely not cold right now, Betty. Are my hands cold or something?"  
They looked at each other, both trying not to laugh. He held her, and shook his head, "What made you think of that, anyway?"  
She shrugged, laughing so hard tears were rolling down her eyes, "I don't know. I was just…worried about you not having gloves, I guess. But, I suppose, in London, raincoats are pretty essential, too, huh?"  
He caught her joke and laughed with her for a few seconds, but then he seemed to have an idea and put on a song, smiling at her.  
The soft guitar began playing, changing their mood entirely. Betty stopped laughing now, as he ran his hands up her arms, and they locked eyes, moving towards each other.  
Makes any difference  
I still love you girl  
You're my weakness  
You changed my world  
Share my life  
Trust in me  
You're all I want  
Everything I need (baby)  
Makes any difference  
I give you all my heart  
Girl my sun sets  
Anywhere you are


	4. Ch 13-16

Chapter 13  
Daniel rolled over slightly, and saw Betty's long, dark hair, falling over her face in the morning light. He couldn't help grinning; knowing he probably looked like like a dork, but he couldn't care less, he was so incredibly happy right now.

He saw her open her eyes, squinting at him, "Hey, there, handsome." She reached out and gave him her hand.

He kissed her fingers, one by one, "Good morning, gorgeous. You're squinting."

She nodded, "Yeah. It feels weird."

"Really? I've never been this happy." He kissed her shoulder.

"No, I mean, well, me, too about that. But, I just meant…waking up with contacts. I think this is the first time I can remember that I've been able to see this well when I first woke up."

"Oh, right. Well, it's a day for…firsts, huh?" he smiled at her, looking like he just got his first Trans Am.

She shifted to her side, keeping the sheet over her, as she smiled, "I don't know if you could say first time. More like, first three times, maybe."

He shrugged, winking, "Hey, give me time, I was just getting warmed up. I can do better, you know."

She raised her eyebrows, "What scares me is I'm pretty sure you're being serious now. Wow, no wonder you made page six so much!"

He shook his head, "Betty, that Daniel's over, okay? The Page Six version of me. I want you to know you can trust me. I'm nothing like my dad. I would never do to you what he did to my mom. I love you so much. I feel… incredibly happy right now. Especially, knowing you love me, too."

"That's really sweet of you to say. I...do love you, Daniel."

He kissed her hand, then worked his way up her arm, to her shoulder and neck. "I love you, too, Betty. You were my friend, no matter what. You were there for me when I didn't even like myself. I think that's exactly why I decided I needed to change what I was doing with my life.

Because you accepted me for who I was then, but encouraged me to do better. You had higher expectations of me than I did of myself."

She wrapped his arm around her, "You did the same thing for me, Daniel. When you first met me, I was dating Walter, for goodness sakes! And even he cheated on me!

But, at the time, I didn't have very high self-esteem. I was ready to settle, because I thought he was the best guy I could ever get. You always believed in me, though. You gave me opportunities nobody else would have."

"Well, except for that first week. I made your life hell."

"But that wasn't really you. That was 'evil Danny'."

He nodded, "Right. Exactly. My evil twin. I hate that guy! I would never do something like, make you scrape gum off my shoe. I can't believe you came back after what I pulled."

She laughed, "Yeah, I still can't eat Cole slaw without thinking of 'evil Danny'!"

He moaned, "Ooh, sorry, baby! Well, all I can say is, I'm glad you did come back." He kissed her forehead.

"Me, too. Good Daniel is really, really good." She giggled.

He smirked at her, "Thanks, you're not so bad yourself."

"So, are you absolutely sure you're ready to take on babysitting a two-year old all day and night, Daniel? Last chance to chicken out. Daniel, you're really hot." She sat up, suddenly.  
He kissed her cheek, "Thanks, sweetie. So are you."

She put her hand on his forehead, looking concerned, "No, I mean, you feel like you might have a temperature. I knew you weren't feeling well."'  
"Is that a reflection on my love-making skills? I thought three times was pretty good for our first night together. I feel fine. I just have a little sinus congestion, no biggie.  
I get it all the time when I fly. I'll be good as new after I drink lots of water and maybe take some aspirin for this headache I woke up with. I'm glad I didn't have it this bad last night, you would have thought I was making it up to get out of sleeping with you."  
She tried to get up, and pull Daniel out of bed with her, but he moaned, "Betty, I'm fine. But, I don't really feel like getting out of bed yet. It's early. Why are you getting up already?"  
"Because, Daniel. You need to see a doctor. In the first place, if you have a fever, you could be contagious."  
"What, are you afraid you're going to catch something?"  
"Not me, William. Christina isn't going to want you infecting her child. Come on, get up. If it's nothing serious, the doctor can let us know that.  
But, if you need medication, like anti-biotics we can at least get you started on them and make sure you're not contagious."  
"Fine! But, this is supposed to be all happy, morning-after sex talk, not you nagging me to go to a stupid doctor. You're no fun."  
He still wasn't getting out of bed, and he kept pulling the sheet away from Betty. She finally managed to keep the sheet wrapped securely around her leaving him with the downy comforter.  
"I'm sorry. I tell you what, Daniel. Just stay in bed and rest. I'll call the front desk and speak to the manager and see if they have a medic on staff that can come take a look at you here in the room so you don't have to go to a doctor's office, since I know you hate them, okay?"  
He pulled the sheet off her again and pulled her back into bed with him, grinning. "Deal. But first, I need you to come give me a thorough physical, Nurse Betty."  
She rolled her eyes. "You're incorrigible, Daniel."  
"I swear; you and my mom must compare notes or something. I just want a little BLC." He whined.  
"Betty loving care?" She smiled, 'kissing' his head and cheeks better.  
He suddenly stopped, as she got closer to his mouth. "Wait, Betty. You're right. I don't want to get you sick if I am contagious. Can we just fool around with no kissing? Where'd that banana go?"  
She hit his arm, "Daniel! Seriously, how about I call the manager now and we first find out what's causing your temperature."  
"You mean, besides you?"  
She shook her head, rolling her eyes at him, "Yes! You're not allowed to say things like that when the doctor's here, Daniel. You're a terrible patient."  
"Well, you'd better get dressed then, Betty, because in that sheet, it's not going to take a brain surgeon to figure out what we were doing." He smirked as she went to call the hotel manager.  
A few hours later, thanks to the efficient manager, Daniel had been seen and diagnosed with acute sinusitis and given an anti-biotic and nasal decongestant, plus some instructions for relief that he liked very much.  
After the doctor left, Betty called Christina and told her they would be ready for her to drop off William in a few hours. She told her that Daniel had been feeling under the weather, but re-assured her he was fine and it was nothing to worry about as far as his ability to help babysit.  
As soon as she got off the phone, he grabbed her, "Come on, Betty. You heard the doctor. I need urgent care in a steamy shower stat! And you are just the nurse to cure me!"  
She giggled, as he unzipped her dress casually, and patted her bottom, "Oh, Nurse…this way to give each other sponge baths."  
She shook her head, "You don't seem all that sick to me."  
"I'm not! You heard the doctor; it's just sinus pressure or whatever. Flying probably aggravated it is all. And he even said mine was cute. Just like me." He touched her nose when he said 'cute', making her laugh.  
She rolled her eyes, "No, he said 'acute'. Not cute, silly! It means more serious." She started to look over his prescription. Since taking the medication, Daniel had been acting a little confused and hyper, she noticed, but saw on the drug's side effects those could be possible.  
She decided to simply humor him. She had ordered them a healthy brunch for when William got there in a few hours and went in to 'supervise' him following the doctor's advice for sitting in a steamy shower to help break up the sinus congestion.  
She was glad she was wearing contacts, because it was so steamy, her glasses would have surely fogged up, she thought.  
"Daniel!" she screamed as he jumped out at her, wearing nothing but a grin and she laughed. "Uh, I think you're having way too much fun with this, sweetie. Is the steam helping your headache?"  
"Mmhmm…you know what else would help, Nurse Betty?" he sounded rather childlike.  
"What, Daniel?"  
"A massage. You promised me one and never gave it to me. I mean, well, you actually did give it to me last night I guess and it was verynice, Betty. But you know what I mean. I never got my massage you said you were going to give me when you pretended to be my maid. Ha! Now you're my nurse!  
Before you were my assistant. And you were the absolute bestest assistant I've ever had. Even though you're probably the only one who didn't put out until after you weren't my assistant anymore.  
I'm really, really, really glad you like me now. I mean, you know, love, no, no, adore me. Right, Betty? You do. You said that. You think I'm adorable. You are, too. You're really super adorable, Betty Suarez. Hmm...I should call you 'breasty' Suarez."  
She nodded, ignoring his hyper conversation, as she tried in vain to keep his hands from wandering. "Daniel, try sitting on the ledge in the shower and letting the steam do its thing."  
"I think I'd rather let 'little Daniel' do its thing to you, Betty. I liked hearing you scream last night." he whispered, sitting next to her on the shower ledge.  
"Daniel!" she laughed. "You're insane. Cut it out. You're clearly a little confused from the medicine. You're definitely going to have to let me drive to the house in the country when get William. You know, I could just watch him here while you rest."  
"No, no. You're going to love the house I got out in the country. And little Willi is going to love it there, too. Little Willi! Ha! That sounds like I'm talking about Milowhena! Wilmoneena. The mean one we left behind on her broomstick in New York!  
I really feel fine! I'm just using the steam as an excuse to get you naked again, Betty boop." He 'whispered' again, rather loudly, then leaned forward and kissed her heatedly.  
"Hello! Betty? Are you here? I've got William. The fellow is here with your brunch. He was out in the hall and I told him to put it in...OH!"

Chapter 14: Chapter 14

London Falling  
Chapter 14  
A/N: We'll be spending a little time in the country with Daniel, Betty and William makes three in the upcoming chapter. But, first, Christina gets a big surprise. Well, two of them, actually!

"Daniel, where did you go? You need to get dressed. Christina and William will be here any minute."  
Betty came out, wearing her robe and saw Christina holding William's hand and Daniel, in all his glory, grinning like an idiot.  
"DANIEL! Oh, my God! Christina, I'm so sorry! Daniel, honey, please come and get dressed."  
William looked up at Christina, then pointed to Daniel, "Dada"  
Christina just laughed, as Betty ushered Daniel back into the bedroom to get dressed. "Huh, your daddy only wishes, Will. Heck, mum wouldn't mind a bit, either. Need any help in there, Betty?"  
Betty persuaded Daniel to put some clothes on and came out to Christine while he was dressing, "I'm SO sorry about that, Christina!"  
She shrugged, "Doesn't bother me. Even as the seamstress at Mode all those years, I only ever got a quick peek. Lucky girl!"  
Betty rolled her eyes and blushed, ignoring her friend's comments, "I called the doctor earlier and he said since the first dose he gave Daniel was stronger, maybe that in combination with the sinus pressure itself could be causing him some…uh, confusion right now.  
He should be fine soon. The steam from the shower helped relieve his sinus pressure."  
"You still think you want to take both little boys out to the country? They do have doctors and hospitals there, just in case, I suppose.  
Not so much for my tough little man here; he's a real Scotsman, bounces back from anything. I'm more worried about the big guy in there.  
I spoke to the nanny over the phone and she seems to know her stuff. I'm less worried about little Will than I am about you trying to deal with a child and a boy-child."  
"It's fine. Daniel was really excited to show William the place he rented.  
He said there is supposed to be a family of deer that live on the property and sometimes they do fox hunting there, with the guys in the red coats and everything.  
It sounds really pretty. There's a little goat farm nearby and it's just past a horse stable, so we could take William for a pony ride or something maybe if that's okay."  
Christina shrugged, grabbing a bite of fruit off the cart. "It's fine with me. Will, would you like to go with Auntie Betty and Uncle Daniel to the country today and go see some deer and goats and maybe go for a horsy ride, luv?"  
The little boy's eyes lit up, "Yes! Pweese! I go ride horsies!"  
"See, Betty! He'd go off with Attila the Hun if he got to see animals. He loves going to Stuart's Uncle's place in the country.  
He's got cows and a million dogs, and every animal under the sun. He'll have a grand time with you two, won't you, Will? But is Daniel going to be alright?"  
Betty nodded, "I was talking to him in there just now. He sounded like he's getting back to normal.  
Worse case, if he starts getting confused again, I may have the nanny watch Will and take 'naked boy' to the doctor in town, there's one only five miles from the house."  
Chirstina picked William up and gave him a squeeze, then she told him, "Now, Uncle Daniel isn't feeling well, so you must help Aunt Betty here see to him, okay? Like you helped mummy when Daddy was sick, remember?"  
"How's Stuart doing these days? No signs of recurrence with his illness?"  
"Nope. Thank the Lord for experimental treatments, and studies. I can't believe we almost gave up Will here to the wicked witch, just to get treatments that didn't even help before."  
"Are you okay, Christina? You seem kind of edgy."  
She shook her head and grinned when Daniel came in, rubbing his ear with a towel.  
"Hey, William! Or do you go by Will? Or Bill?"  
The little boy looked up at his mother somewhat fearfully, but she nodded in re-assurance. "It's okay, honey.  
You can talk to him. He's a silly guy. He's one of mum's friends from America I told you about, remember?"  
The little boy nodded and went to Daniel, holding his hands up to be held. Daniel grinned, picking him up,  
"Hey, there, little man! My name is Daniel. Would you like to go to a farm today?"  
William nodded, "I like farms."  
"Feeling better? Ah…where's naked Daniel? I miss him." Christina smirked.  
Daniel furrowed his brow, as if he didn't remember, "I came out here naked? When, just now?"  
Christina smiled, nodding, "Oh, yes! And I just got Will to stop running around naked himself. You're a terrible influence on my son, Daniel! But…I'll forgive you, you crazy naked bugger."  
She hugged him around William, who patted his mother's head. "I can't thank you enough for what you did, Daniel! This is going to be such a great opportunity for me."  
He patted her arm, still holding little William.  
Betty looked confused, "Okay, will somebody please tell me what's going on, here? Uh, Daniel, you're okay now, right?  
No more…streaking? And, Christina, what did he do that was so great? Well, other than flash you?"  
Christina had tears in her eyes, but she was grinning as she looked at Daniel, "You didn't tell her what you did yet?"  
He shrugged, "It's no big deal, Christina. I just thought it might help a little. I take it, Stuart got the transfer here?"  
She nodded, smiling, "He sure did! He got the call first thing this morning.  
I got my call from Stella's people late last night and I was so excited I almost came over here to thank you, but I figured you might be…otherwise engaged with Betty and I didn't want you to change your mind."  
"All I did was send her your designs. Your work speaks for itself. She would never have agreed if she didn't think you were good, Christine."  
Betty was catching up now, "First, of all, Christine, I'm sorry, I didn't ask about Stuart, but I didn't think he was supposed to find out yet.  
And, Daniel, you told Stella McCartney about Christine? You gave her Christina's designs?"  
He nodded, smiling, "Yep. I talked to her yesterday briefly, and she said she had a spot at the end of her show today that she could introduce Christina's work in. It seems she was very impressed with our talented friend's designs."  
Betty and Christina both squealed and hugged Daniel again. William squealed, too, not really seeming to know or care what they were all so happy about.  
Christina looked Daniel up and down, "Are you feeling better, now? What was with the little floor show, earlier? Not that I minded, but I do prefer Will keeps his clothes on in public most of the time now that he's a bit older.  
It took him a while to potty-train and I don't want him reverting. You're both quite lucky there won't be any of the nappy changing with my big boy here now."  
She smiled at him and kissed his cheek. He kissed his mother back, then turned to Daniel and put his hands on Daniel's cheeks.  
"We go to farm, soon, pwease?"  
Daniel laughed, "Wow, you're quite the polite little guy, huh? Yes, of course, sir, William. You and me and uh Aunt Betty will be all going on a little trip to the country today while your mum there does her job!  
Then, we're going to let mommy and daddy celebrate moving to London. How about it, does a day and night in the country sound like fun?"  
Daniel held out his hand to high five and William slapped it.  
He nodded, looking very excited, "Yay! I go to a farm! See horsies, and deers and goats, mommy!"  
Daniel laughed, and looked at the women, "See, I'm not the only one who likes high-fiving!"  
"Yes, but he's two years old, Daniel." Betty smiled, shaking her head.  
He shrugged. "Are we ready?"  
Betty looked at Daniel, gesturing at her robe, "Hang on, I need to get dressed, Daniel. Not all of us want to run around naked all day.  
Christina, thanks for bringing my bag. Congratulations! I'm so proud of you. I know you're going to do really great."  
Daniel looked at her, then Christina, "Betty, if…you want to go to Christina's show today to support her, I could take William by myself."  
"No way, naked man. You were loopy as heck earlier. I'm not leaving you alone with a child when you're not feeling well. I know the nanny will be at the house, but I'm driving. You're on medication.  
I can drive a stick. Although I admit, I'm a little nervous myself about driving on the wrong side of the road. I'll be right out. Bye, Christine. Lots of pictures, okay? Knock 'em dead!" She hugged her friend again and took her bag in to change.  
Christina thanked Daniel again and said goodbye to them all, running off, in excitement for her big break.  
After she left, and they had eaten, Betty went to sit next to Daniel, who was on the couch, and had William in his lap, talking to him.  
She took his hand, and leaned forward to kiss his cheek, "That was wonderful of you to do that for her, Daniel.  
She was already doing fairly well, but this…this will put her design orders through the roof!  
You are absolutely the sweetest man I know. So, this is really why you were so set on babysitting, isn't it? You planned this all along."  
He shrugged, "Sort of. I didn't know until yesterday how much Stella would love Christina's designs, though.  
Either way, I wanted to spend some time with this little guy. I missed him. Remember, at one time, I thought he could be my brother. A brother this age is a lot easier to deal with than a half-brother Tyler's age."  
"I'm excited. I know we're going to have fun today. Daniel, honey, are you sure you're feeling better, though?  
I still can't believe you came out here naked and don't even remember doing it!" She hit him, trying not to laugh. "Although, I don't really think Christine minded too much!"  
He shook his head, "Yeah, that's really weird. I don't remember doing that at all. I guess I must have still thought I was in the shower or something.  
I remember little Will pointing at me and calling me Dad. That felt weird. I think that's what shocked me back to myself. It sort of reminded me of how freaked out I was at first when I heard DJ call me papa!  
I mean…it's kind of scary to think of having a kid, but, on the other hand, once you get to know them, whether they're little like Will here or older like DJ, they're pretty cool."  
Betty nodded, "Yeah, well, Will here's definitely a cool guy! Aren't you, Will?" She smiled at William and leaned forward, "So, are we all ready to go to the farm, Will?"  
He nodded, "We go to farm, now?"  
"Yes, let's go!"  
They got their bags and went down to the rental car they had ordered. Betty looked at Daniel, "Do you know how to put him in this car seat, smart guy?"  
Daniel handed William to her, "Here, hold him for a second and let me look at it." When Betty was holding Will, Daniel looked at her, smiling, "You look cute holding a baby, Betty. Very natural."  
She blushed, "Don't go getting any ideas, Daniel. We just started dating. I'm not ready to be anybody's 'baby mama'."  
He smirked, kissing her on the forehead, "Yeah, you'd better make sure you don't mix up your gloves with 'raincoats' or you might have an accidental little blessing, 'luv'."

Chapter 15: Chapter 15

London Falling  
Chapter 15  
A/N: This chapter is longer than usual, but I couldn't find a good place to break it up, so we're off to Suffolk with the three amigos!

Together, they finally managed to get William into his car seat and Betty took off towards the 'motorway', trying not to let Daniel see how nervous she was shifting with her left hand and driving on the 'wrong' side of the road.  
Finally, he switched on the stereo, seeing that William had drifted off to sleep. "I guess it's true what they say about kids sleeping easily in the car." He commented quietly to Betty.  
She smiled, "You were so cute earlier having a conversation with him about Star Wars and superheroes, Daniel. I love the way he kept trying to say 'chewbacca' and it came out 'toothpock! But you thought he meant the rapper. He's adorable, isn't he?"  
Daniel narrowed his eyes,"I thought you said I was adorable, Betty. I'm jealous!" He smirked.  
She shook her head, "Right. He's cute in his own way, too. But, I like my men a little taller."  
"You sure about that? You're kind of short yourself."  
She laughed, "Okay, let's make that taller and older, then! How are you feeling, by the way?  
You know, you could take a nap if you wanted to, if the medicine is making you sleepy, Daniel."  
"What's the matter, don't want me to see what a terrible driver you are?" He teased.  
"Hey! I am not! It just took me a while to get used to shifting with my left hand and driving on this side of the road, that's all.  
It's not like I drive all that much, either. I am a New Yorker, after all. There aren't that many opportunities to drive there, you know."  
"Speaking of being a 'New Yorker', did you give any thought to what I said before about working here, for Meade UK?  
There's a job you'd be perfect for, Betty, if you're not too stubborn to apply for it."  
"Daniel, that's really sweet of you to think of me. But, I want to earn it, not get something because we're sleeping together and you think I want to move here."  
"I promise; I wouldn't just give it to you. You'd have to go through the regular channels at HR, Betty. It's as the Managing Editor of a magazine called Your Eye on London.  
It's got a young demographic, mostly professional level female, with a growing male readership, too, primarily in the twenty to thirty year old range.  
We do have some pretty stiff competition. A magazine just called, "Eyes", and they've got a similar demo, but I think that's where you can make our 'eyes' really pop!"  
She shook her head, "Funny, Daniel. What's the situation? It's already established?"  
He nodded, "Yeah, but only for the first six months, which means you still have a shot at really making it your own. The lady who is leaving loved it but wants to stay home now and raise her kids.  
She just turned thirty-nine. This is her second child and she and her husband had trouble conceiving this time, so she's really excited about the new baby coming next month. She said she had made her choice. Her husband makes a good income, so she doesn't need to work necessarily.  
She did a good job for the magazine, getting it started. But, I think you could re-vamp it, put your own spin on it.  
You'd be giving it a more international flavor, being an American living here. Look, I'm not going to sit here and try to sell you on the idea, Betty.  
You might not even get the job anyway, unless you actually want me to fight for you, which knowing you, I doubt.  
I admire your independence and integrity. But, if you are interested in even putting in for it, the closing date is this Friday. They need someone to start next month. She's coming in part time till then, but that's as long as she can work.  
I can at least get you an interview. And the UK offices for Meade are not nearly as intimidating as the New York ones.  
Or even Dunne's offices here. Although, I haven't been inside his building for about fifteen years. Just…think about it. And let me know, okay?"  
She nodded, glancing at him, then shifted into fifth gear as she merged onto the M-11. "You can get me an interview this Friday?"  
"Sure. I'm going there Wednesday in person. But, all I'd have to do is make a call to the CEO and they'd put you on the schedule, Betty."  
She bit her lip, "Okay, Daniel. It sounds like a good opportunity. As long as you promise I'm not going to just be 'Daniel's girl' again. I mean, you're going to work here, too, now? You've decided that for certain? This isn't just some…"  
"Some what, Betty? Do you honestly think I said all that just to…get into your pants or something?  
Come on, give me a break here. I mean, I know I can be a little impulsive sometimes, but…"  
She shook her head, "A little impulsive? Are you kidding me, Daniel? This from the man who proposed to Sofia after knowing her for only two months!"  
"Yeah, I think I remember, Betty. It's hard to forget that one, since it was her title, 'in sixty days!"  
"You would think, but then you got the brilliant idea to use a paintball game to determine if you or your sister controlled your family's whole company. And who picked me over Marc as an editor based on a coin flip?"  
"Fine, I get it, Betty. First off, I told you that coin thing was completely Wilhelmina's idea, not mine! But you may have a point. So, I'm an impulsive guy! So what? That doesn't mean all of my impulses are wrong!  
I suppose it's so much better to be like you and take so long to decide if you love a guy or not that he knocks up his ex girlfriend. Or goes off to Africa.  
Or to never be able to make up your mind between one guy or the other, because you're so damn careful and analytical, you NEVER just follow your heart about anything?"  
She took a deep breath, "That's not true, Daniel. I definitely wasn't careful or analytical the last few days!"  
He nodded, putting his hand on top of hers, "I'm sorry. You're right. That's true. Look, I don't want to fight. I just…really think that you want to make a big change right now, with your career, with your life. But you feel guilty and scared.  
And I do, too. I don't know what exactly would be so terrible about being "Daniel's girl", but just so you know, I may not even work there. I can't help my name being on the building, but other than that, I may not even visit, unless you do end up getting the job and I come to see you.  
I have a lot to do to finish my MBA first. I just told Mom and Alexis I'd check in with our offices while I'm here, that's all. I didn't say I would be working there or anything.  
I know I'm tired of fighting with Wilhelmina. She can have Mode as far as I'm concerned. She's earned it more than me."  
"But, Daniel…" He put his hand up and shook his head.  
"Don't tell me what a great job I've done since I took over, either, Betty. We both know darn well it's only because of your support I kept that job, especially in the beginning. I knew less than you did about how to run a magazine.  
But I learned, mostly thanks to you, kicking me in the ass to try. Well, I'm doing that to you, now. It's your turn. I know you like it here. I do, too.  
I think this might be a good way for us to start our relationship, away from Mode, away from our families, and New York, from Suzuki and everyone else butting into our lives.  
We can both start over here, just you and me. We will have a few friends, I'll be closer to Alexis and DJ, and we can see where things go from there.  
Becks stops in here fairly often, you've got Christine, and at least we speak the language, sort of…" he smirked.  
She nodded, a smile growing on her face, "You definitely missed your calling, Daniel. You should have been a salesman! You're right, it sounds like a great job.  
I'm sorry I complained about your impulsiveness. It's very good a lot of the time; you're right. Maybe try and curb the naked stuff, though. I don't mind, but…" She giggled.  
He shook his head, rolling his eyes, "I still can't believe I actually did that! I was so mixed up.  
Well, we know Christina at least went off to her show with a smile on her face, getting a peak at Big Danny."  
She hit his arm, giggling, "Big Danny? You're so bad, Daniel!"  
She had come to the exit, and saw a heavily wooded gravel driveway. She looked at him, glancing at the navigation system, "This is it, right?"  
He nodded, checking the map on the display and his notes, "Yeah. This is the place. Kennett Hall. We're here!  
Should we wake William you think?" Daniel glanced back at the child, still sleeping peacefully.  
She smiled at his enthusiasm, then took a look at William, "I don't know, Daniel. I don't want him to get all freaked out and start crying because Christina isn't here."  
"He knows who we are. She introduced us to him. He isn't on medication or suffering from clogged, foggy brain syndrome like me, Betty.  
I say we wake him. What if we see the deer? He'll want to be awake. They're supposed to be so tame you can go right up to them."  
She nodded, "Okay, go ahead. But be gentle. Don't yell at him or you'll startle him."  
"Of course not! Why would I yell at him? He's a little boy, not Marc or Wilhelmina. Give me some credit, Betty." He gently shook William's leg,  
"Hey, Will! We're here, buddy. We're at the house in the country, now. Wake up, little man."  
William pouted and started to cry. Betty gave Daniel a dirty look, "See, I told you!  
He was probably dreaming or something, Daniel."  
"Well, what am I supposed to do, now? Can I take him out of there and try and calm him down, maybe?"  
"Let me pull in front of the house first."  
Just as Betty pulled slowly in front of the stately home, the family of deer walked calmly through the brush on the other side of the drive.  
William saw them first and stopped crying, his eyes wide, and a huge smile on his face, "Deers!"  
Betty and Daniel swung around to the direction he was pointing. "Wow! There they are. The guy who sold me this place wasn't kidding."  
Betty looked at Daniel, "Did you say the guy who SOLD you this place? You bought a house in England without even seeing it? Daniel! What were you thinking?"  
He winced, as he realized he had let it slip sooner than he meant to. "I know you see this as a big deal, Betty. But, it's really not.  
With the real estate market in flux like it is, people are buying up all kinds of properties overseas. You know I already have a few European investments. I just thought…it would be nice to have this, as a place to hang out. In case we do decide to live here.  
If not, it's still a great investment. I had it checked out first. It's a stately manor, and a lot of people in the area are buying places like this and updating them.  
Then they can either rent them out, or turn them around or even keep them as a vacation home. It's a lot cheaper than my hotel suite if I'm staying here for any length of time, I'll tell you that much!"  
She shook her head, "I can't believe you bought a huge mansion in England before you even saw it, though!"  
He put his finger to his lips, "Well, we're seeing it now, aren't we? We'll talk about this later. Shh…stop yelling. You'll scare away thedeers. Won't she, Will? 'Aunt' Betty gets a little loud sometimes, doesn't she?"  
Will just nodded, as Daniel fiddled with the car seat for a while, "Mmhmm. Shhh, Aunt Betty. Don't scare the deers."  
He put his finger up to his lips, imitating Daniel, who was getting more and more frustrated with the car seat. "This is a death trap! What if the car was on fire? How the hell are you supposed to get the kid out in an emergency?"  
Betty rolled her eyes, pushing a button and taking him out of the seat, then put her fingers to her lips,  
"Shh…watch your language, 'Uncle' Daniel! There are children present. Besides you, that is!"  
They quietly walked up to the deer. Daniel grabbed a granola bar from Betty's bag and started crumbling it, and handed some to William. "Here, Will, hold out your hand. You can feed the deer."  
"Do they eat granola?" Betty wondered. "I hope it's good for them."  
"Well, I'm sure they've eaten a lot less tasty food out in the wild, Betty. It's not like I'm giving them snails." He fed some to the large buck.  
William made a face, "Deers eat snails? Ewwee!"  
Betty laughed, "I know, it is eewwee, isn't it, William. No, I'm pretty sure deer are smart enough not to eat them. But, Uncle Daniel eats them. He tried to make me eat some and I hid them in my coat pocket."  
William laughed, pointing to Daniel, "Uncle Danell is funny! He eats icky stuff and forgets to wear his clothes sometimes. Mommy toldme big boys have to wear their clothses."  
Betty bit her lip; to keep from laughing, and put William down to feed the approaching animals.  
Daniel shook his head, narrowing his eyes at Betty, "A lot of French people eat them, too, you know. Just wait, Aunt Betty.  
You're going to get it as soon as I get you alone, 'dear'. It's not nice to make fun of poor Uncle Daniel."  
They were able to feed and pet the deer for several minutes before a passing car on the main road scared them back into the surrounding woods.  
Daniel took Betty's hand on one side and William's on the other. "So, guys, do you want to see the house Uncle Daniel bought?  
I think Mrs. Monson will have lunch ready for us. Let's go have lunch and look around the house for a little bit, then we'll see about that horsey ride, okay?"  
"Okay. Tank-u, Uncle Danell."  
"Yeah, you can just call me Danell. I mean, Daniel, Will."  
They went in, and were eagerly greeted by the housekeeper, Mrs. Monson, a short, heavy-set woman in her early fifties, wearing a pair of ill-fitting jeans, from the eighties.  
She grinned when she saw William, holding Daniel and Betty's hand, walking in the main entrance.  
"Hello! It's so good to see you made it here. I was afraid you'd get turned around getting off the motorway. So many Americans do."  
"You sound almost American, yourself. I thought you were British."  
"No, I was born in the states. I've lived here for over thirty years. I still visit my family often, though, and talk to them a lot. I think that's why I still sound like a yank!  
Please, come in! It's getting nippy out there, with the scattered sunshine. Ooh, you must be little William, then? Aren't you just the cutest thing? Hello, William! How are you, today?"  
William held onto Daniel's leg, peeking around it. Daniel reached down to pick him up, pointing to Mrs. Monson. "Will, it's okay. Mrs. Monson used to be a teacher. She has a grandson your age.  
She is here to help me and Aunt Betty take care of you, since we haven't been around little boys your age all that much.  
Why don't you tell her about the deer you got to feed and we can ask her about riding the horsey, does that sound good?"  
William nodded, looking a little hesitant at first, but excited to tell of his encounter with the animals.  
They laughed at his account of the deer, tickling his hand. "Oh, I see you met the residents. We call them Bambi and Giselle and the buck's name is the same as yours, William!" she smiled, touching Will's nose.  
His eyes widened in disbelief, "The daddy deer's name is Willem, just like me?  
"It sure is! Oh, and about the horse rides. There is a stable that doesn't normally offer them to tikes Will's age, but I made a call to the owner.  
He's a friend and said he's got a Shetland Will can go on by himself, or there is an older horse he can go on with an adult. It's only eight miles south of here. I can get you directions, after we eat."  
"That sounds great! Thanks. It smells good."  
She led them through the huge main living area, which looked like it had been used as a ballroom in its day, through a small door that led to the equally large kitchen and dining room, with a gorgeous black and white marble fireplace, and French doors that overlooked the expansive meadow.  
In the back of the kitchen was a long, but somewhat narrow bathroom, with a claw-foot tub and in the opposite corner, there was a small old-fashioned greenhouse, full of plants, herbs, and vegetables.  
It was beautiful, but needed definite upkeep. The fireplace in the kitchen had been blocked off and the whole house other than the kitchen was cold.  
Betty was looking around, "How high are these ceilings?"  
"Fifteen feet, I imagine."  
"And, there's no central heat?"  
"No. That's something the new owner will have to attend to straightaway. It should have been taken care of ages ago.  
But, this property just sat here for a number of years, whilst the heirs fought over it when the owner back in the eighties passed away without leaving a will."  
"Mrs. Monson, would you mind giving Will his lunch, please? Will, Uncle Daniel and Aunt Betty need to get unpacked. How about you start your lunch, okay? Then, we'll go for the ride on the horsey."  
He nodded, looking a little overwhelmed at the size of the house. "Okay, Danell. I eat lunch first. Then ride the horsey!"  
Mrs. Monson nodded, "The bedroom's through there. I'll get Master Will here fed for you."  
Daniel led Betty through the heavy wooden doors into the bedroom. It, too, had a black, marble fireplace, currently being used in lieu of a headboard for the antique bed. Like all the other windows, these had heavy wooden shutters.  
Betty looked around, overwhelmed by both the beauty of the place, but also the amount of work it would take to update it.  
She went to open her mouth, but Daniel pushed her against the heavy door, kissing her rather forcefully and leaving her literally breathless.  
Her eyes went wide, "What was that for?"  
He shrugged, still practically on top of her, smiling, "Hey, it's okay for you to strip for me to distract me when I'm mad at you, but I can't even kiss you when I know you're mad at me?  
Look, I probably should have said something first, but…I sort of kept it from you because I wanted to see what you thought of the place before you knew I bought it. I didn't mean to let you know now, but I was excited when we saw the deer right away.  
I like this place. It looks just like the pictures. I can see having kids here. You know, I mean, someday. Geez, don't freak out on me, now because I said that, Betty."  
She shook her head, smiling, "I'm not freaking out, Daniel. I love that you're so wonderful with Will and that you are thinking about…kids and me. It's just…fast, you know?"  
He nodded, "I know. Here I go again, Mister Impulsive. But, look at it from my perspective, Betty. We've known each other over four years, we love each other. We 'adore' each other, in fact. How fast am I really going here?  
This isn't like Sofia. I know you. You know me. I'm just talking about us thinking about living here together. You know what a great team we make." He kissed her again, "In all kinds of ways."  
"You want us to live here? Daniel, it's over an hour and a half from London."  
He shook his head, "No, no, I just meant both living in England. I'm talking about ME living here at first, at least some of the time, fixing it up, while I go to school. A lot of my classes are on line or have satellite campuses I can attend.  
You can live in London, and we can date, get to re-discover each other as girlfriend and boyfriend. That sounds slow and reasonable, right?"  
She narrowed her eyes, and laughed, "Who is going to fix this place up, Daniel? YOU?"  
"Why not? I'm a man. I can fix stuff."  
She looked at him as if he'd lost his mind until he relented, nodding.  
"Well, okay, I'd probably hire people to do most of the work, smarty pants."  
She smiled, shaking her head, and put her hand on his cheek, "You really are a funny guy, Uncle Danell. Let's go eat and ride the horsey."  
He raised an eyebrow, but she shook her head, rolling her eyes, "Don't even say it! I can read your dirty mind."  
He grinned, grabbing her hand and following her back to the kitchen, looking around as he went.

Chapter 16: Chapter 16

London Falling  
Chapter 16  
By late afternoon, it was already dark, and the weary trio pulled back up to the drive.  
Daniel insisted on Betty letting him drive, re-assuring her he felt fine.  
When they arrived, he and Betty exchanged glances, looking back at a sleeping William and smiled.  
"He was so cute on that horse. So were you, Daniel. I thought I was going to die laughing seeing you try to get up on it.  
I know you were scared to death, but you were trying to pretend you weren't so Will wouldn't be afraid.  
You were very brave." She smiled, leaning closer to kiss him, as she brushed back his hair, looking into his eyes. "Very…sexy."  
He moaned, pulling her towards him for another kiss, "Uh…see, this is really why I hired a nanny.  
I wanted to spend time with Will today, but you and I could use some…alone time tonight.  
Maybe Mrs. Monson could take Will to the bookstore for story book time or something? Let's ask her."  
Betty was caught up in his 'spell' and simply nodded at first, as he continued to nuzzle her neck, but seeing William, she pulled away,  
"But, he's asleep now, Daniel. He might need to just have dinner and go to bed soon."  
Daniel looked at his watch, "I know it's dark, Betty. But, it's only four o'clock. It's 'tea time', not bed time. Well, at least not for Will yet.  
Maybe, Nurse Betty could put me to bed, though. I have been a sick little boy." He grinned, kissing her neck again and driving her crazy.  
"Oh, Daniel…wow, that feels really, really good…no, stop!"  
She pushed him away, "We're responsible adults, remember? Christina trusts us. Well, she trusts me anyway to take care of her son.  
I'm not going to make Mrs. Monson drag him out when he's tired just so we can play nurse and patient!"  
He cleared his throat, and nodded, trying to get himself under control, "Yeah, you're right, Betty. We can uh, wait till he's in bed."  
She shook her head, "Daniel, he's going to have to sleep with us, you know. It's not like he can sleep in his car seat. There isn't a separate nursery.  
Well, there might be upstairs, but I know you said the upstairs needs even more renovation. He can't stay up there by himself."  
"Oh, right. Of course, I forgot. I guess we could uh…put him to bed and then sneak out and 'snuggle' on the couch for a while, then go back in the bed with him, and he'd never even miss us."  
She shook her head, "I don't know, Daniel. He's in a strange place, without his mom and dad. I don't want him to wake up alone and be scared."  
"What about me? I don't want to wake up alone, either, Betty."  
"Your puppy dog eyes are cute, but not as cute as William's. Don't even try to compete with a two year old. Give it up."  
He sighed, "Fine, whatever. I knew going into this babysitting thing it might be a challenge for us.  
I just figured, where there's a Will, there's still a way for…Uncle Danell to get some loving.  
But, hey, it's fine, Betty. You're missing out on some good stuff, here, but…I'm not going to beg.  
Besides, I'll wear you down eventually. You know you can't resist me."  
He gave her an evil smirk and kissed her neck, slipping his hand around the inside of her coat and under her sweater in the back, pretending to unhook her bra before she knew what he was doing.  
Her eyes went wide, "DANIEL! What are you doing?"  
She hit his arm, while he chuckled, "You're terrible. Come on, let's get him inside.  
It's getting chilly now that the sun is down. Not that it will be much warmer inside that refrigerator you bought."  
"It's fine. Don't exaggerate, Betty. Mrs. Monson texted me to say she got some heaters and lots of firewood so it should be much warmer by now.  
It was comfortable in the kitchen before, right? It's not like the old heaters in New York always worked all that well, either, Betty. Don't be such a 'spoiled American'.  
We'll snuggle and use our body heat to stay warm if we have to. Doesn't sound all that bad to me." He put his arm around her and kissed her cheek.  
"I guess so. I just don't want William to be cold, though. Or you, either. You're still sick."  
"I feel much better. We do need to make sure the hot water works, though.  
Maybe tomorrow after Christina picks up Will we can do another steamy shower therapy. That was nice.  
Come on; let's get the sleepy head inside. He needs to eat something. He was pretty 'adorable' on the 'horsey' today, wasn't he?  
I know he had to be scared, riding up on that bigger horse, especially, but you wouldn't know it. He sure acted like he loved it."  
She smiled, "I think he was trying to impress you, Daniel. He really likes you."  
He smiled, "Well, it's kind of hard not to like him. He's so polite. I love it when he says 'pweese and tank u'!"  
She laughed, "I know. Christina and Stuart have taught him to be polite, I guess. Can you imagine what he would be like if he had been raised by Wilhelmina?"  
Daniel made a face, "Yeah, probably like Marc. She's his current 'pet'. I have a theory that he used to be a somewhat normal guy, but she turned him into the little yappy poodle he is now.  
He was a lot better when he was my assistant. Well, except for trying to make me shave my beard."  
"I like you clean shaven. You can see your face better. Such a nice face."  
She patted his cheek and laughed, but stopped short as they noticed how dark it was when they stepped into the hallway.  
"Where is the light?"  
They heard a voice and saw Mrs. Monson peak out of the front door, "Hang on."  
The light came on, and she waved them quickly inside, "Hurry, it's a push-button light. It only stays on for a minute."  
They rushed inside with William, just as the light went off again. Once they were in the cozy living room, Daniel furrowed his brows, "What the heck kind of a light was that, anyway?"  
She shook her head, "The cheap landlord that took over this house and turned the units upstairs into separate flats had that installed. Or installed it himself, to save electricity."  
Daniel shook his head, "Yeah, that's just stupid. I'll definitely need to get that fixed."  
"Of course, Mr. Meade."  
"Call me Daniel, please."  
"You're welcome to call me Laura, too. I sort of got used to 'Mrs. Monson' when I taught school on the base down the road, but I've been retired for the past five years."  
"Aren't you a little young for retirement?"  
"Ah, you're sweet to say so. I heard you were a bit of a lady charmer. Well, normally, perhaps.  
But, my husband was military and he retired from the Air Force when he was forty-five. He had twenty-five years in and got out early so we could travel a bit."  
We loved it here so much, that we found a place and I kept teaching on the base for another few years after he retired. We had plans to go to Switzerland on our anniversary this past year, but…he passed away."  
"Oh, I'm so sorry."  
"Was he ill? You're so young." Betty asked, as she took William from Daniel and sat down on the large sofa, facing the roaring fire that was going.  
The woman smiled, obviously trying not to choke up, "He had some heart problems.  
He had had a triple by-pass back when he was only forty-one and thought that was like he suddenly had a new heart and lungs, treated it like it was a clean slate or something.  
He quit smoking and I got him to eat right for about six months, but then he went right back to his evil ways, drinking too much, smoking and eating junk.  
He was such a sweet guy, though. I sure did love him. It's been almost a year now, but…I still miss him something awful. Sorry." She wiped her at her eyes. So did Daniel and Betty.  
Daniel patted her on the back, "Of course you do. He was too young. I'm sorry you two didn't get to go to Switzerland.  
Thank you so much for all your help. Your friend at the stables was great. Will loved the horse rides. We wore him out."  
She smiled, seeing Betty sitting on the couch, with Will on her lap, and leaned to Daniel, "So I see. That's a lovely sight, isn't it?"  
Daniel smiled, nodding, watching Betty stroking William's cheek. "It sure is."  
After Laura had left for the evening, showing them that she had prepared a few meals for them and telling them to call her if they needed anything, they saw William had finally woken up, so they gave him his dinner, then all came back in front of the fire.  
"You were like a regular rodeo guy on that horse today, Will. I'm going to call you cowboy Will."  
He giggled, "They got cowboys in New York, Uncle Danell?"  
Betty and Daniel both laughed, but Daniel shook his head, "Well, not too many, no. It's mostly us city folks.  
But I do know one guy, cowboy Tyler. He's from South Dakota, way out west, but he's in New York now."  
They showed William how to make S'mores in the fire. Daniel handed one to Will, who was having a difficult time eating it without making a mess.  
"This is an American delicacy, Will. I can't believe your 'mum' never showed you how to make these. She lived in New York. She must have had them!"  
He happily ate the treat. Daniel reached over, smiling as he wiped away some sticky residue, "You've uh…got a little marshmallow there, buddy."  
Betty smiled, "I think I'd better help you wash off that sticky stuff and brush your teeth, now. Maybe get your jammies on? What do you say, Will?"  
He nodded and reached up for Betty to carry him. "Okay, Aunt Betty."  
He giggled, "Is Uncle Danell going to put his jamms on, too? He get cold wit no clothes on like before."  
"No, he's going to put night clothes on, too, Will. We all are. You're right. It's way too cold to run around without our clothes."  
Since he had slept so much earlier, and he was in a strange environment, Will was having problems getting back to sleep. Finally, he asked Daniel if he could tell him a bedtime story.  
Daniel rolled his eyes at Betty at first, shrugging, and mouthing, "Do you know any?" Then a smile crossed his face, as he plopped Will on his lap,  
"I know! I've got one. Once upon a time, in a land far across the sea, lived a pretty princess named…uh, Betty."  
William looked at Betty, then back to Daniel. "Just like Aunt Betty!"  
Daniel nodded, "Yep, just like Aunt Betty. Well, anyway, this pretty princess met a really handsome, really manly prince named uh…Danell."  
William giggled, "Just like Uncle Danell!"  
Betty rolled her eyes, trying not to laugh at Daniel's exaggerated expressions and the way he was lowering his voice to be silly for William.  
"Princess Betty was sweet, and kind, and really beautiful. But she had a magic cape she wore that hid how pretty she really was to all the other dorky Prince's except Prince Danell to try and keep them from all falling madly in love with her.  
There were still a few goofy guys who tried to win the fair Princess Betty's heart, but the daring Prince banished them all. He sent one to some terrible place called Arizona and another one to the jungle to get eaten by a tiger!  
So, after many years of being Prince Danell's uh, faithful and kind servant, watching him kissing lots of other uh, mean and nasty toads who said they were princesses, Princess Betty and Prince Danell finally told one another that they both loved each other.  
And it broke the magic spell. All of a sudden, everyone could see how beautiful she really was, just like Prince Danell always knew deep down."  
William's eyes grew wide, "Did they live happy evafter then?"  
"Of course. That's the way they always end up, right? But in this case, Princess Betty was much smarter than Prince Danell.  
She had to help him figure out lots of things. Like, where they should live and what they should do."  
"They should fight dragons!" he plunged an imaginary sword at the 'dragons', excited.  
Daniel nodded and smiled, "Well, they did that in NewY...England. Yeah, New England.  
There was one really, super mean dragon named WilhelMEAN-uh. She was so mean and nasty that people were all scared of her!  
But, Princess Betty was always way too smart for the mean old dragon lady.  
She always helped silly Prince Danell to fight her and win. WilhelMEANuh had a little annoying dog named Marc-us, too. He yapped all the time. Yap, yap, yap!"  
William giggled. "But, fighting the dragon lady got really boring and one day, Princess Betty and Prince Danell came across the sea here to England to take a break from fighting the dragon lady.  
They liked it so much, because there were cool cowboys named Will! And his pretty mummy, Princess Christina and his dad, Prince Stewie and lots of other nice people there.  
It was really exciting in England. So, Prince Danell and Princess Betty decided to stay in a great big old castle and look for new dragons to fight together right here.  
And they fixed up the castle and had lots of little princes and princesses and lived happily ever after, kissing each other all the time.  
Just…like…THIS!" He blew razz berries on William's tummy, making him giggle.  
Betty joined in, tickling him. Once he finally wore himself out, and fell asleep again, Betty signaled Daniel with her eyes and they covered him up in the bed, slipping quietly back into the living room, but leaving the door slightly ajar, so they could hear him rouse.  
The heaters all seemed to be keeping things fairly warm. The fire was really blazing, and Daniel threw even more logs onto it when they went back into the living room.  
Betty folded her legs on the couch and held out the blanket for him.  
He sat next to her, putting his arm around her. "That was really fun. He's so cute.  
I love it when he says something and you can sort of tell he's British. Or Scottish, whatever. He's such a doll."  
Betty nodded, giggling, "I..uh…really liked your little story, Prince Danell. Very sweet, and so...realistic.  
You're going to make a really good daddy, you know, someday."  
He nodded, leaning closer to kiss her, then put his arm around her, "Thanks. I hope so, Princess. Right now, I'll settle for just being a good boyfriend, I guess."  
She smiled as he looked at her, "You are. I mean, so far, I'm not complaining."  
"Good, because I can't remember when the last time was I actually was anybody's boyfriend. Oh, I uh...called and set up the interview for Friday. Not to push, but, that is okay, right? Because, I don't think I could live without you at least being on the same continent, Betty."  
She nodded, aware that she could feel his lips next to hers. Her breath was shallow, her heart racing. "I feel the same way. I'm really glad you came here. Really, really glad."  
"Mmhmmm. Me, too, Betty." he wispered, leaning in to kiss her, then he held her face in his hands, smiling, "You really do make me almost believe in fairy tales.".


	5. Originally listed as Ch 18 (there was really no ch 17)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I recently lost the love of my own real life, my (ex) husband, John. We truly loved each other for over thirty years. We were married for 18 years and had a beautiful daughter together. He tried for me, for himself and her to break away from his addictions, but one of them, his smoking led to his early death last year. 
> 
> In spite of our divorce stemming from those addictions, we still had a very deep, abiding love for one another. That love is a big part of my own personal motivation for continuing to be so inspired by Daniel and Betty’s story. Just like John and me, their love will never die.
> 
> This is really ‘MY STORY’ in many ways. The setting for this part of the story (Kennett Hall) was very real (even the deer family, though the names have been invented, I don’t believe we named them); it’s where John and I lived in England during the first few years of our marriage, feeling (like Detty) that it was just the two of us, against the world!

.....................................................................  
Christina showed up to pick up Will the next day, excited to share how her big show had gone and blown away by the home, especially once she found out Daniel had bought it.

“There’s actually a ‘chauffer’s cottage’ out back! This place is lovely, Daniel. It’s going to need a lot of work, though, you do realize, I hope?”

“I know. It’ll be fun. It will be something I do while I’m finishing my MBA and deciding what I want to do when I grow up!” Daniel teased.

“YOU are going to do the work yourself?” she laughed.

Daniel looked between the two women, both smiling at him, snickering to each other, “I don’t know. I might. Okay, stop laughing, you two! Why is that such a ridiculous thought? I am a guy.”

Christina looked him up and down, “Yes, after yesterday, I’ll definitely vouch for that. You’re quite a guy, Daniel, no doubt. 

But…somehow, I see you as more of an Armani kind of a guy than one who wears jeans and tee shirts, and swings a hammer, that’s all. This place is lovely, though. Good luck…fixing it up. I have a feeling you’re going to need it!” 

She tried not to laugh, as Betty again collapsed into a fit of giggles at the thought.  
Will hugged Betty and Daniel both and thanked them for the horsey ride and kissed them both on the cheek. 

As they followed Christina out to the driveway, Daniel held him and he grinned, “Tanks for the bedtime story, Prince Danell!”

Christina laughed, as she got Will’s things into the car and went to take him from Daniel, “Prince, huh? 

YOU told my son a bedtime story? Oh, Lord, I can only imagine. Please tell me it was G-rated!”

Daniel chuckled, “Yes, of course. I’ll let him tell you his version of it. You’ll like it. You might even recognize some of the characters. 

It has a dragon lady and her little dog, Marcus, right, Will? You can tell your mommy the story on the ride home.” He leaned down to wave to Will as Christina got her son situated in his car seat.

She shook her head, “I look forward to that! It should be entertainin until I get to Scotland tonight. 

Stuart’s taking the train back Tuesday, and we’ll start figurin out how our move is going to go! 

Thanks, again, for everythin you did, Daniel. I owe you. You’re alright. Even if you are crazy!” 

She hugged him and kissed him on the cheek, then turned to Betty, holding out her arms.

“Betty, have fun out here in the country this weekend, you two. Be good!   
Or at least, have fun being bad!” she laughed and gave Betty a slightly tearful hug before she drove off.

Daniel put his arm around Betty, and they went inside, as Laura was finishing washing the dishes and clearing the table. 

She had a gleam in her eye, “Ready to see what you bought, Daniel?”  
He nodded, “Sure, let’s see the place!”

She took them upstairs to the three large bedrooms that had been (rather poorly) converted into separate ‘flats’ for the previous owner to try and rent out to mostly military couples who were stationed at the nearby US air base.

“These aren’t quite as cold as it is downstairs.” Betty noted, trying to stay positive so Daniel wouldn’t think she was always questioning his decisions (even if she did think he often leaped into things before thinking).

He rolled his eyes, as if he knew what she was thinking, “Yeah, well the ceilings are probably only seven or eight feet here. Plus, you know, heat rises. 

But, obviously, I will need to have central heat installed through the whole place. I was told that by the realtor, though. 

I figured it into my expenses. I have bought property before, Betty.”

“I know that, Daniel. These places are cute.” She looked around, noting the interesting patterns on the furnishings and drapes.

Daniel made a face, “Yeah, if you’re into Culture Club and David Bowie, maybe…a little dated on the décor, it looks like. 

I’ll have to hire a decorator to come in and update these rooms. A little paint, some new furniture, and these little ‘kitchenettes will have to go, of course. We don’t need them and they look stupid. 

I’m not planning on running a Bed and Breakfast out here. The bathrooms will need updating, too.”

The windows in the bedrooms upstairs were huge, with the same wooden shutters as downstairs. 

Laura led them back downstairs and around to look at the side of the building. The rather cold, grey stone façade of the outside of the home was contrasted by the many windows, including the huge bay window in the living room downstairs and the French doors leading from the kitchen outside, that overlooked a lovely meadow.

She pointed down the sloping hill, to the wooded area on the other side of the open grassy field.   
“There’s a nice little brook, with a wooden bridge, and on the other side of those woods, from here, you can sometimes watch them fox-hunting. It’s quite entertaining!”

“Oh, the poor little fox! He must be so scared!” Betty was taken with the beautiful scenery, “It’s really gorgeous, Daniel. How far does the property line extend?”

“The brook is the property line. On the other side of the bridge is technically the ‘Queen’s forest’, meaning government property. Up to it, it’s all yours.”

Daniel was clearly impressed, “Really? Wow! This is great! I love it here.   
We could have a little picnic sometime in the spring when it gets warm enough, Betty. This is really pretty, don’t you think?”

She smiled at his childish enthusiasm, nodding, and taking his hand, “I think it’s very pretty, Daniel. I’d love to do that sometime.”

He looked down at her hand and pulled it up to his lips, smiling back at her, both lost in each other’s gaze, it seemed.

Laura grinned to herself, then after a moment, cleared her throat, “Would you like to see the cottage now? 

It’s on the other side of the main house, of course. I’m sure you saw it when you came in. 

Unfortunately, the Air Force couple that lived there most recently was quite fond of uh…well, let’s just say made good use of the greenhouse while they were here.”

Betty looked puzzled, “I saw lots of flowers, and plants, some herbs and a few vegetables out there.”

“Yes, those are all things I put out there since I started acting as the caretaker for this place for my friend Stephen, the real estate agent who sold this to Daniel.   
Before then, there was a little legality issue for the young man living out here in the cottage. He grew mostly...herbs.

He had big speakers and listened to a lot of Pink Floyd while he enjoyed the fruits of his labors of his little ‘crop’, shall we say?”

Betty’s eyes grew huge, “Really? Oh, wow! Did he… get kicked out of the Air Force?”

She shook her head, “No, he had gotten his orders to go back to the states and the owner who was acting as his landlord didn’t care one way or another. So, he washed his hands of it. 

Stephen told him to just get rid of the stuff, and clean out everything and he wouldn’t report him to his commanding officers.

I’m not saying what he did was right necessarily, or how I would have handled it personally, but…it was his call. 

He tried to tell the fellow he needed to straighten up or he was going to get into some huge trouble.”

“Where did he get sent to, do you know?” Daniel asked, curiously.

“California, I believe.”

Daniel laughed, “Oh, yeah. That should work out just fine for him! He’ll be right at home.” 

He opened the stone gate and they looked around the small, dated, but charming little cottage.

He smiled at Betty, “A good place for visiting relatives from the states, huh, Betty?”

“Yes, I believe you might call this a ‘mother-in-law’s cottage’.” Laura offered.

Betty shook her head, as she saw the cute, but unsophisticated fireplace and hearth, the somewhat rustic kitchen and worn wooden flooring. 

“Somehow, I don’t see your mom out here listening to Pink Floyd, Daniel.”

He laughed, “No, maybe not, but your family might like it for a visit sometime. DJ or Justin would probably think this was really cool. 

Like it was their own little apartment out here, or sorry, flat. Uh, those are our nephews.” He explained to Laura.

She nodded, “Yes, well, of course, you may want to have a good look around to make certain the previous tenant didn’t leave anything you might not want either of your nephews to be exposed to!”

After saying goodbye to Laura, Daniel had started another fire in the living room and made some calls to several local contractors Laura had recommended to repair the other two fireplaces as well as getting a quote on installing central heating throughout the home and cottage.

Betty brought in some of the hearty stew Laura had left them for and sat next to Daniel on the couch, enjoying the fire, after they had finished eating.

“This place is really beautiful, Daniel. I don’t blame you for loving it so much. I just hope it’s not a big money pit. I’m sorry to sound like such a downer.”

He laughed, “A downer? Did you find some of that Airman’s weed or something, Betty? I didn’t think you were into that stuff.”

She rolled her eyes, “Not likely! No, I just meant …I don’t want you to think I’m against this idea of yours. To fix this house up or go back to school, or to stay in England in general. 

If it’s what you want to do, then I support you, Daniel. I want you to know, I’m always on your side, no matter what you decide to do with your life. There’s a lot you can do. I know that.”

“Well, thank you, Betty. I appreciate that. Now that we’re finally alone again, there’s only one thing I REALLY want to do. And it definitely involves you.” 

She giggled as he got closer to her lips, “Oh yeah, and what’s that, exactly?”

He kissed her and whispered against her lips, “Well, I’ve got my own idea of a bedtime story in mind. But to really get into character, first we’re going to have to take off all these silly clothes you’ve got on, Princess.” He slowly slid down her blouse as he kissed one shoulder. 

She closed her eyes, returning his feverish kisses, and feeling like she wanted to stay here forever with Daniel, in front of the fireplace, just them, in their own little world, in their ‘castle’, with her as the princess and Daniel her very own charming, handsome prince.


	6. Ch 19

Betty stirred, and felt Daniel’s arms around her. She smiled, hearing him snore softly. Who knew she thought? 

During their previous night together at Daniel’s hotel, they hadn’t had much time for sleep; they both had just finally collapsed wearily.

She noticed a chill in the air, and saw the fire in front of them had all but gone out. Although, there were still enough embers to re-ingnite it. 

So, she carefully moved Daniel’s arm from around her hip and crawled over to the pile of wood Laura had left for them. 

“OW!” She burned the flesh under her forearm as she was placing the wood on. It was raised and white and hurt like hell. Daniel roused immediately, rubbing his eyes, and yawning, 

“Betty? What happened? What did you do? Are you okay?”

She nodded, wincing at the pain. He scooted over to her side quickly and made a face, “Ooh, babe, that looks bad.

Let’s go run some cold water on it. I’m sorry you got cold. You should have told me the fire was going out, though. 

I would have put on the wood. You know I love you, but you ARE sort of a klutz, sweetie.” He smiled, helping her up to the bathroom.

As he tended to her carefully, she looked up at him and smiled, “Thanks, Daniel.” He nodded, staring into her eyes for a moment. 

Betty smiled back, both of them looking at each other intently. For some reason, Betty felt like this was one of those moments she would always remember. 

Daniel staring at her with a love in his eyes that she was only beginning to comprehend and appreciate right now. 

He kissed her arm, on the other side from her burn, “Poor baby. Got a boo-boo, trying to do manly stuff. 

Serves you right for always thinking you have to do everything yourself, Betty. Seriously, why didn’t you just wake me up?”

She rolled her eyes, “You were snoring away, so I didn’t want to wake you, that’s all. I CAN do things myself, though, you know. 

I may be a klutz, but I’m not a little damsel in distress that needs a man to do every little thing for me.”

He chuckled, looking down at her arm, “So it would seem; m’lady. A thousand pardons, Betty. I was just teasing. I thought you were sort of getting into this whole princess thing, since this place looks like a freaking castle, that’s all. 

Don’t go getting your panties all in a bunch, just because you got a boo boo, princess. I kissed it better. Did you hurt anything else you need kissing?” 

He gave her that crazy, charming smirk of his.  
She rolled her eyes, hitting his arm, “You’re a mean ‘prince’ sometimes, you know that, Daniel?”

He shrugged, “Sorry, Maybe that’s because I’m grumpy. I was having nice, sexy dreams about us and you woke me up and interrupted. The least you could do is make my dreams come true. Although…I realize you’re injured here, so…I suppose I can wait till you’re feeling up to it. 

Let me see if this place has a first aid kit. Maybe cover that up for now, until it starts healing more, so it doesn’t get infected or something.”

She raised an eyebrow, “Since when do you know anything about ‘first aid’? I’m fairly certain you were NEVER a boy scout!” 

He said quietly, “No, uh…you know, when Molly was sick, I took one of those online courses, just so I would know what to do, in case.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Daniel. I should have guessed.”

He shook his head, finding a bandage, after cleaning her burn. He patted the tape, “There you go, hopefully, you’ll be good as knew. It’s bad enough that it might leave a little scar, though. 

Now you’re never going to want to come here and help me work on the place if you’re already getting hurt.”

She reached up to his face, pulling him down to her and kissing him. “What was that for?”

Her eyes were glassy, “Just because. I’m sorry I said you were a mean Prince. You’re really a great guy, Daniel. I’m very lucky. I hope you know I realize that.”

He smiled, nodding, “Yeah, me, too, Betty. I know how lucky I am to have you, believe me. You were definitely worth the wait.

But, I still wish we wouldn’t have taken so long to see how great we are together. I…love you, honey.”

She grinned, “Thanks. I love you, too. Even when you’re grumpy from me waking you up. And I think I can work around my little ‘boo-boo’ here. So…what do you want to do first?”

He looked her up and down, tilting his head, “Huh, I THOUGHT you KNEW me, Betty. What do YOU think I want to do?”

She laughed, “Well, okay, me, too. Yeah, we can definitely do…THAT first. But, I guess I meant, to fix up the house.”

He nodded, holding her close by the waist in front of him, “Yeah, I know what you meant. But, until we do the other thing, I can’t really think straight. So…first things first.

Let’s go turn the heater back on in the bedroom, and see if we can’t find some way to keep each other warm in the meantime.”

She giggled, as he grabbed her hand and practically raced to the bedroom, opening the door to the almost frigid air. 

Daniel immediately turned the heater back on. “Geez! It’s cold as hell in here! Come here; let’s…try to make some heat.”

He held her close and kissed her neck, all the while, both of them, shivering. But Betty moaned softly, 

“Well, what you’re doing IS helping warm me up, but I think we’re going to have to get creative, Daniel. There’s no way in heck I’m taking my clothes off in here.”

He nodded in agreement, “It’s fine, we can absolutely work around that issue. I agree. I kept picturing what they say happens when you lick a metal object when it’s freezing. I don’t think I want to imagine that happening to certain parts of my anatomy!”

She laughed, sliding her hands under his shirt, but then wincing from her burn getting rubbed against. He looked down at her, “Oh, honey, be careful of your burn. Are you sure…you can do this?”

She nodded, “I really want to, Daniel. You’re awfully cute in the morning.” She smiled at him, ruffling his hair, making him grin.

“Thanks. You, too. Well, mostly, except maybe for this… interesting bed-head hairstyle you’ve got going on right now. Very sexy, Betty.” 

He laughed, patting her hair, which had gotten frizzed out. 

She rolled her eyes, “Look who’s talking, Mister. Your hair’s just as messy. I just have more hair.”

“Lots more. In fact, you kind of look like tooth pocka right now, Betty. Let’s see if I can make you growl!” 

She giggled as he tickled her and chased her onto the bed, yelling out as they tried to use the heavy blankets and quilts to keep warm until the heaters had begun warming the expansive room. 

Once they were able to generate sufficient body heat, the couple fell back onto the bed, smiling. Daniel was winded, “Wow, now I’m actually hot!”

Betty laughed, “Well, you are, but you don’t have to be so conceited about it, Daniel.”

He rolled his eyes, “You know what I mean. I don’t know if this heater is that great or if we just made our own heat, but I actually feel plenty warm now, don’t you?”

She shrugged, “It’s better. I wouldn’t say I’m sweating as much as you, though, Daniel. You’re dripping…oh, my goodness, you’re burning up again!” 

She felt his forehead and cheeks. “You have a temperature, honey. Did you remember to bring your medicine?”

He nodded, “Yeah. Don’t panic, Betty. I feel fine. Well, other than you wearing me out. But my decongestant and antibiotics are both in my overnight case in the bathroom. 

I am a little lightheaded, though, so if you don’t mind getting them for me, I think I’ll stay here till my head stops spinning.” He blew out a breath, wiping his forehead.

“Don’t move, Daniel. I’ll be right back with your medicine, okay?”

He just nodded, smiling, “I’m fine, Betty. I’ll be right here. But, could I get some…water, too, please? My mouth and throat are really dry.”

“Of course, Daniel. I’ll bring your medicine and water and…then I’ll warm up some of the soup Laura left for you. You should eat something. You look really pale.”

She ran out of the bedroom, in a panic, taking care to close the door to keep the heat. The minute she walked into the immense living room she put her hands up to her arms, shivering. Now this room had cooled off again.

She went to quickly grab Daniel’s medicine and water and gave it to him carefully. He nodded, trying to smile and seemed to drift off to sleep. 

She left to get her phone and call Laura to see if she knew a good doctor in the area to take Daniel to in case he didn’t improve soon.

Hours had gone by and Betty had been able to make an appointment for Daniel to see the doctor, but she still hadn’t been able to fully wake him to drink any water or have any soup.

He seemed incoherent and just hunched over, curled on his side, complaining about his head and jaw hurting terribly and moaning, but unable to move or sit up. 

Betty tried to reach Laura again to see if she could help her get Daniel into the car and to the doctor’s office, but her phone batteries had died and she didn’t have the proper plug to charge it. 

She looked at Daniel, speaking to him gently, “Sweetie, I’m going to try and get your coat and shoes on and get you out to the car to take you to the doctor. Can you help me? I can’t do it by myself!”

She fought back tears as she managed to get his shoes on and strained to pull him up out of the bed and upright, then held one of his hands tightly in hers, while firmly putting her other arm around his waist to hold him up and get him out to the car. She just prayed whatever was wrong wasn’t as serious as it seemed.  
Tags:  
fan fiction: hawaiigal52


	7. Ch 20

Daniel stirred, seeing tubes and IV drips hooked up to him. He was in a hospital? What the hell happened? He didn't remember being in an accident.

 

His mind was a big mess right now of mostly very pleasant memories of Betty, mixed with some very unpleasant pain he was glad to note had finally subsided for the most part other than his general feeling of extreme fatigue, like he had been fighting some unseen opponent.

 

His throat was dry and his lips parched. He absently started to reach out for a glass of water he saw on the bed table in front of him, but his movement woke his mother, and her eyes popped open, filled with relief and surprise at seeing him awake. 

 

He could see she had been crying, her eyes red and ringed, reminding him sadly of days long past when she had been drinking and often crying in response to Bradford's many affairs. Had he been the cause of her crying, he wondered? How sick was he, anyway?

 

“Mom? What are you doing here? Or am I back in New York?” He thought he had heard nurses speaking with British accents.

 

She wiped her eyes quickly, trying to hide the tears with a big smile and adjusted his pillow for him, just like he remembered her doing when he was sick as a young boy and she was actually there, instead of the nanny.

 

“No, dear. I'm here, in good old England. You uh...gave us all quite a little scare, there for a while, Daniel. They had you in ICU until yesterday.”

 

“Where's Betty?”

 

She smiled, “Well, that's a fine how do you do, Daniel Meade! I fly all the way across the Atlantic to come check on you and all you're worried about is your girlfriend! I know when I'm not wanted.”

 

He smiled wanly, “Sorry, Mom. Thanks for coming.”

 

“It's fine, Daniel. I'm only teasing you. She's in the ladies room, freshening up downstairs. She's been by your side, ever since they brought you in. 

 

The poor girl practically had to carry you on her back to get you into the car, you were so sick. She couldn't get you to eat or drink anything.”

 

He was afraid to ask, as he swallowed and managed, his voice raspy, “What's wrong with me?” He feared the worst.

 

She smiled, “Well, it started out as that damn acute sinusitis, but it seems you developed another secondary infection on top of that, that was resistant to the antibiotics you were taking.

 

You were so sick, Betty said she couldn't get you to drink or eat anything, so of course you became dehydrated. 

 

It was very serious, Daniel. You've been unconscious since I got here four days ago. 

 

Almost a week altogether, since it took me a day to get to you. 

 

This is the first I've seen your beautiful eyes, I was beginning to worry...I wasn't...I was too...late.”

 

She tried to control her emotions, but he could see how worried she had been. 

 

He moved his hand on top of hers and made an effort to smile, “I'm fine, Mom. Please don't cry.”

 

She nodded, trying to smile for him, and kissed his hand, “I'm sorry, I'm just so glad you're back with us. 

 

Alexis and DJ are here, too. They're at their hotel right now, just taking a break.”

 

“You all thought I was dying?” he raised an eyebrow.

 

She didn't answer, but he knew he wasn't far off the mark here. 

 

Betty came in, with her hands full, “Mrs. Meade, I've got magazines and candy and some lotion I can rub on Daniel to keep his skin...DANIEL! Oh my God! You're awake!” 

 

She dropped all her bags and ran to his side. Claire stepped aside, smiling at Betty's relief and joy. 

 

She watched the girl throw her arms around Daniel's neck, and cry tears of joy, but quickly wipe them away, so she didn't scare him, and immediately go into her usual cheerful mode to try and make Daniel smile.

 

“Well, it's about time, sleepy head! You've been sleeping way too long, Daniel. 

 

I'm so happy to see you! You have no idea how happy I am.”

 

She rested her head carefully on his chest for a few moments, as she sat by his side, taking care not to disturb his IV tubes. 

 

He smiled, and placed his hand on the back of her hair. “I'm good. But, could I have...”

 

She sat up immediately, looking at him eagerly, anxious to get anything for him, thrilled that he was asking, “What is it you need, Daniel?”

 

He gave her a small smirk, and she gave him a warning look with her eyes at Claire, and whispered, 

 

“Daniel, don't be ridiculous. I meant...food, water, wash cloth, something like that. You're a sick man.”

 

“I must be. Water, please?” He motioned with his head in the direction of the glass that had been torturing him since he first noticed it.

 

She nodded, enthusiastically, grabbing it and seeing it was stale, she got up and refilled it. “I hope tap water is okay.”

 

Luckily for him, she was quick about it, so he wasn't kept waiting even longer, he felt like he had been out in the dessert he was so parched by now. 

 

She returned with the much needed water and placed the straw to his lips, cradling his head with her other hand gently as he drank it down. 

 

As soon as he finished drinking, she went and retrieved the bag she had dropped on seeing him and got a lip balm which she rubbed on his dry, cracked lips. He smiled, “Thanks. You think of everything.”

 

She smiled brightly, and it was clear from the dark circles under her eyes that she had been spending long nights at his bed side.

 

Claire said quietly, “I'm going to go tell your sister and nephew that you're awake, Daniel. It's good to see you, son.”

 

“You too, Mom. Hey, sorry I scared you.”

 

She shook her head, and gave him her best stalwart smile, patting his hand and leaned down to kiss his cheek,

 

“I'm good now, Daniel. It's just so good to see you up. I love you very much.” She was clearly choked up, seeing him up and talking again.

 

“I love you too, Mom.” He squeezed her hand.

 

As soon as she left, Daniel asked for another drink, then asked Betty, “So, you saved my life. Again, it seems.”

 

She shook her head, “I just got you to the doctor, Daniel. I'm...so happy you're awake! I was so worried. We all were.”

 

“Apparently. If Alexis came and took DJ out of school, it must have been pretty bad.”

 

She shook her head at first, but he knew her too well for her to lie. 

 

She squeezed his hand and nodded, not able to fight back the tears now as she finally gave in to her days of never ending stress, trying to stay positive for Claire and Daniel's family, be their cheerleader, when she herself felt agonizing terror at the thought of losing him.

 

“We almost lost you, yes, Daniel. I think if you hadn't started finally responding to the treatments with the latest round of antibiotics the doctors were preparing us for the worst.”

 

He tried to swallow as the fact really sunk in that everyone here, including the doctors had thought he was dying. 

 

He fondly remembered being with Betty at the house, spending time with little William and making him laugh, sleeping together with Betty in front of the fireplace, then making love again in the bedroom. 

 

But then nothing except...lots of pain. Feeling like he was paralyzed or something. 

 

He remembered feeling as if he was underwater and hearing voices outside his head, sensing Betty was sad and scared, and vague memories of her yelling at him about moving or he would die. 

 

But it was all blurred together in a sort of fantasy-like string of events, none of which he was even certain had actually happened. He could have just as easily dreamt a lot of it.

 

He tried to focus, “You flashed me, right? At the pub?”

 

She blushed, “Yes. You know I did, Daniel.”

 

He nodded, continuing to try and sort out the fantasies from reality. “And I bought a house here?”

 

She nodded, “Also true. One near Cambridge. Your mom had them start installing the central heating the second she got here. 

 

She said no son of hers was going to die of pneumonia, freezing his uh … a … butt off in a refrigerator.”

 

He laughed, “So...we're together, that's real, right? God, I hope so. 

 

Cause if not, I've got to tell you, I've had some incredibly inappropriate hot sex dreams about you, Miss Suarez that if I even told you about would make me SOOO guilty of sexual harassment!”

 

She blushed again, and smiled, “Those are true, actually.”

 

He grinned, “In that case, I'm really glad to be awake!”  
Tags:  
fan fiction: hawaiigal52


	8. (originally Ch 21)

Chapter 21

 

Two weeks after Daniel was released from the hospital, so much had changed; Betty was somewhat amazed when she stopped to think about it.

She had been hired at the UK offices of Meade Publications, and was to become a managing editor there, as soon as she returned from her sister’s wedding and moved permanently to England. 

Daniel had resigned his position from Mode, leaving Wilhelmina in charge, over a conference call that Betty seriously wished she could have taped, seeing both Wilhelmina and Marc’s expressions of utter shock.

She was somewhat amazed to learn that Claire was very supportive of Daniel’s decision to stay in the UK. 

Claire didn’t seem at all surprised that Daniel had decided to try and plant some roots here in England, or about his more and more frequent not-so-subtle hints about a future that included a family here with Betty at some point. 

He had already enrolled for the next semester to complete his MBA and seemed happy in his role as lord and master of his English country home, even taking local DIY courses to learn how to do some of the work himself.

Betty was anxious to return to New York in some respects. She knew that Amanda had been trying to act as her ‘stand-in’ maid-of-honor for Hilda in some cases. 

Betty herself had been making as many arrangements from England that she could, video-conferencing caterers and florists whenever possible.  
But, of course, Hilda needed her there as soon as possible. So, she was leaving in a few days.

Luckily, Daniel had gotten clearance from his doctor to fly back just before the wedding. 

Still, Betty hated the idea of going ahead without him. She was really enjoying their time together, just fixing up the house, with no work to worry about for the moment. She’d never seen Daniel so relaxed and happy.

Betty woke and saw that she was alone. She smiled, seeing Daniel coming through the bedroom door, holding a tray with coffee, toast, fruit, and a rose.

“Uh, is this special treatment to get me to do something you want or because you already did something you shouldn’t have?”

He shook his head, “Nope. Strictly because I love you, sweetie. I promise, I have absolutely no hidden agenda.”

She sat up and smelled the rose, smiling at him, “Thank you, honey. This was very thoughtful. But you have to stop spoiling me so much all the time.”

He shook his head, “First of all, nothing’s too much for the lady who saved my life. Second, I enjoy doing things for you for a change, Betty. 

You waited on me hand and foot for years. It’s about time I started returning the favor.” He fed her a bite of toast. 

After she ate the bite, she kissed him, “Mmm…thanks. I can’t believe you buttered my toast for me.”

He laughed, “Well, it tastes better that way. Of course I did, silly.”

“Nobody’s ever done that for me.”  
He took a bite himself, then said, while still chewing somewhat, “Well, that’s going to change. You deserve to have all kinds of things done for you…and to you, I might add.”

He had ‘that look’, but she giggled, grabbing the coffee and getting out of bed, “None of that, Daniel. 

We have contractors coming today, remember? I’m not getting caught again. 

No one will work for you. They’ll think you’re just some pervert who has sex all the time.”

He shrugged, “Well, that’s sort of true. Especially since I semi-retired to become an English gentleman with fox hunts in his back yard and deer families on retainer.”

She giggled, “You didn’t ‘retire’. You’re just taking some time off, recuperating right now before you start back to school to finish your MBA.

There’s a lot you can do, Daniel. I know you’ll figure out what you want to do here.”

He shrugged, “Well, we could get another place in London for you to stay in when you get back after Hilda’s wedding and I could stay there and work with you at Meade for a while, at least.”

“A while, huh? How long is a ‘while’ to you, Daniel? Nine months?”

This was usually where he did his plug for having a baby, teasing Betty about it, but not coming right out and saying he wanted her to be the mother for ‘his’ baby.

She usually managed to successfully change the subject. 

He laughed, “No comment. Sorry, I do miss Will and DJ, though. Although it will be very nice to see your nephew as well, back in New York. 

I miss Justin blackmailing me for free access to the closet or Broadway tickets. Such a resourceful kid.”

“What did he blackmail you about, anyway?”

Daniel shrugged, “I’ll never tell. Whatever it was, was just between me and Justin. But, let’s say it always involved him NOT telling you about some stupid thing I did.”

She rolled her eyes, as she tried to slide on her jeans and tee shirt, while periodically taking bites from the breakfast he had brought for her.  
“Betty, honey, you fail to grasp the idea of breakfast in bed is that you actually stay in bed while you eat it. 

Now you spoiled the whole concept. I guess I’ll just have to show you.”

He lay down on the other side of the bed, and pulled her down on top of him, feeding her another bite of toast. 

“Here you go. This is more like it.” She giggled as he started kissing his way down her arm.

“Daniel, you’ve got to stop. You’re dressed. I needed to be, too.”

“Not really. I much prefer you undressed.”  
“I’m sure you do, but…”  
“Hey, at least we won’t freeze in here anymore. Remember that time? I thought I was going to freeze my nubs off in this room. But you still got me warmed up awfully fast.”

“I think that was your temperature more than me.”

“No, it was you, Betty. In fact, I feel like I have a temperature right now, just looking at you makes me hot.” 

He kissed her passionately, and as they continued, they both forgot the breakfast try and rolled onto it, knocking the items on the floor, spilling the rest of the coffee, and fruit.  
They ignored it and continued until they were both panting, lying on the floor next to the tray and its scattered contents.

Betty laughed, “Sorry about the breakfast, Daniel. You went to all that trouble for nothing.”

He raised an eyebrow, “Hey, where were you? I got what I wanted. I was just trying to ‘butter you up’. And it worked, so I’m not complaining. Sorry you didn’t get any, though.”

She grinned, “I wouldn’t say that. I got plenty.”  
The doorbell rang and made it’s really weird honking sound, sending them scrambling to throw the breakfast items back onto the bed, and putting back on their clothing, which had gotten scattered around the room in their lustful tussle earlier.

While Betty continued to straighten up the bed itself and gather the tray to take to the kitchen, Daniel opened the door, to see a rather disheveled looking crew of workers there. 

“You guys are here to do the painting?” Daniel hoped they had better equipment that equaled out their appearance. He tried to remind himself not to judge by first impressions. Something falling in love with Betty should have surely taught him by now.

The one older worker spoke up, “Aye, mate! We’re ere what to do the paintin on your very own Sistine Chapel, what! 

We got scaffolds and ladders to get us up into the very clouds if need be.”

Daniel nodded, “Okay. Great. You guys know what you’re doing, I take it. I guess we’ll clear out of your way while you do your work. 

We’ve got a list of furniture to go try and find, so I’m borrowing that truck from my housekeeper’s friend. We should be back around four or four thirty.”

“Now, you realize, once we paint, you shouldn’t be in here for a while until the paint is dry. I’d give it at least twenty-four hours. Are you and the missus goin to a hotel, then?”

“No, there’s a chauffer’s cottage we’re probably going to go hang out in while the paints’ drying.”

“Oh, right! I heard about that place. Isn’t that where the pothead lived? You might get a little dizzy staying in there, too. From a different kind of ‘fumes’.”

“Well, it’s been cleaned out thoroughly, so I think we’ll be okay.” Wow, the rumor was still going strong, even after the guy had left, years ago, it seemed! 

Daniel hoped he wasn’t going to be known as the owner of ‘dope’ manor. Especially considering his long term plans included children.

Betty appeared, smiling at the men, who Daniel noticed checking her out a bit too closely for his liking. He quickly put his arm around her, 

“This is my girlfriend, Betty Suarez. Betty, this is the painting crew. You’ve got all our stuff at the cottage, right?”  
She nodded, “Right. The next time we come in here, it’ll be all painted.”

“Right you are, miss. You two have a nice trip to Cambridge getting your furnishings. We’ll have this knocked out for you by the end of the day. We’re professionals. We’ve done lots of these old stately manors.”

“Great. Thanks. Good luck. It was nice to meet you, Mr.?” She realized Daniel hadn’t even bothered to get their names.

“I’m Joseph! My crew doesn’t speak English good like me, though.”

Somewhat reluctantly, Betty and Daniel left, with Daniel scraping the gears a bit on the truck. 

Betty looked back at the house, hesitantly, “Are you sure those guys know what they’re doing, Daniel? They don’t seem…really all that professional to me. Did you get a contractor’s license?”

“Sure.” He lied, “Betty, believe it or not, not a lot of people are willing to go up on a ladder and paint an old house with fifteen foot ceilings. It wasn’t easy even finding someone who would do it at all. 

They’ve done other places like ours. Have a little faith. The house is going to be fantastic when it’s done. You’ll see.”

She nodded, looking at the map on the portable nav system, “Uh, I think you need to turn here.”

“Here? But that doesn’t even look like a road.”

She shrugged, “I know. But, it’s on the map this is where the uh…road is supposed to be. Who is this antique dealer, anyway?”

“He’s a friend of one of our neighbors. His name is Valentino Sheppard. He’s Italian, I think.”

“I would have never guessed.”

“Do you have to be such a grumpy girl all the time when it comes to fixing up the house, Betty? I know it’s not easy, but nothing worthwhile ever is. You know that.”

“I know, Daniel. I think I got upset when you first got so sick there and I honestly thought you might die in that house.”

“But, Betty, I was already sick. I just didn’t realize how bad I was when I came to Kennett. 

Don’t blame the house itself, okay? I’m the one who ignored signs of how sick I was. I should have spoken up before.”

“I know, Daniel. I know the house is going to be really beautiful when it’s done. I’m sorry to be such a sourpuss. I’m sure the painting will make a huge difference. And hanging out in the cottage will be ‘groovy’!” She giggled.

“Very funny. I half way expected those guys to ask me if I had a joint. I don’t want people coming to me in the middle of the night, expecting me to be their supplier or something.”

Daniel took Betty’s hand as they walked around to the front of the large building, that somewhat resembled an airplane hangar. 

“This is interesting.” 

Daniel furrowed his brows, hoping this wasn’t another wild goose chase, or ‘questionable’ purchase. 

He knew Betty had a point about the validity of some of his local connections, lately and he didn’t want to tell her he had made them at the pub down the street when she had been in London. She could be such a prude sometimes.

“Let’s go here to this door. It looks like the front. Mr. Sheppard said to just knock three times. He’s a little hard of hearing.”

“Three times?” 

Daniel ignored Betty’s questioning looks and knocked on the door three times, then stepped back as the door opened carefully. “You Daniel? The one who called?”

“Yeah. That’s me. I came to look at your antiques. I’ve got a big place that needs large, antique furniture. I need living room, dining room and bedroom furniture. The works.”

The man, in his late sixties, with red cheeks and crinkled eyes grinned, “You think you’re going to fit it all in that little truck?”

“No. Of course not. I just want to take the living room furniture today. I was hoping we could arrange for delivery of anything else we found that we liked next month.

I have to get some work done in the kitchen and dining room and bedroom first anyway. I’m just doing one room at a time, you know?”

“I see. Well, I’d need a deposit to hold anything you like. Cash. I don’t take checks from people I don’t know.”

“Of course. I understand.” 

The man showed Daniel some beautiful living room furnishings. He saw a mid 18th-century Georgian mirrored mahogany bookcase and a lovely coffee table that complimented the bookcase. 

The man had a worker that helped put it on the truck and as they left, Betty asked, “Daniel, do you think this guy is legitimate?”

“I don’t think he is a thief, if that’s what you’re asking. I know his story, actually. I heard he scours through the obits for locals he knows have good antiques and goes to talk to the families.”

“Ew! That’s kind of creepy.”

“Yes, but it’s not illegal. He seems okay to me. Kind of funny even.”

“I guess so. You look really cute, in your jeans, driving a British truck, Daniel.”

He grinned, “I’m trying to adapt to my new environment, Betty. Besides, I’ve still got a long way to go to becoming a real British landowner gent.”

They got the items unloaded into the cottage for the moment. But when Daniel went to the main house his eyes almost crossed. The living room was blue. Bright azure blue. 

He stopped dead in his tracks. “Blue? I never said I wanted blue walls! I wanted beige. What the hell?”

Betty was practically rolling on the floor with laughter at his expression. The men had left for the evening, so there was no one for Daniel to yell at. 

Betty finally composed herself enough to smile at him, patting his back, “Hey, look at the bright side, Daniel. It really makes your eyes pop!”


	9. (Originally Ch 22)

The next round of work done on the house was slightly more successful than the ‘blue walls’, but it meant Daniel and Betty spent an extra few nights out in the ‘groovy cottage’.

They were getting a little under foot of one another, trying not to get on one another’s nerves. The power and water were being turned off and on periodically as the main water and power lines had to be cut while the crew worked. 

(at least this time, Daniel had found a properly licensed one from Laura’s realtor friend and the ‘blue crew’ had been dismissed).

“Daniel, have you been able to ask them when we can use the water again? Or IF we can use it? I really don’t want to go to the airport in two days smelling.”

“I told you we could get a hotel, Betty. You’re the one who said we shouldn’t spend the money. I can afford for us to go to a hotel until they’re done, you know. We don’t have to ‘suffer’ here.”

“Now you sound like your mother. They told you they would be done in two weeks with everything and they’re just now getting started on the bedroom. God only knows how long they’ll take with the kitchen and bathroom! 

Even you can’t afford hotels indefinitely, Daniel! Those guys are bleeding you dry.”

“Look, I admit those first idiots were unprofessional, Betty. But these new guys definitely know what they’re doing. 

That’s why it’s going to take a little longer. We want it done right. I’d rather make sure everything works properly.”

“I’m sorry; I don’t mean to be so grumpy, Daniel. I know you’re trying to stay positive and I don’t mind ‘roughing’ it a bit with the water and electricity once in a while. 

I think I’m just nervous about leaving you here and going back to New York, you know? I have nightmares about you getting sick again and being here with no water or power or anything!” she held his lapels, resting her forehead against his.

He held her arms, “I’ll be fine, Betty. I’ll be coming there next week and we’ll get to spend a little time back in New York together, during the wedding and after to wrap things up there before you start your new job here and who knows, maybe I will have found you a great place in London other than the executive place Meade has there.” 

He smiled, lifting her chin up to him, “It’s going to all work out, Betty. We just have to be patient. You need to relax, babe. Is there anything I can do to help you calm down? Anything you can think of?”

“I don’t know, Daniel. Maybe you should see if the previous tenant left behind any ‘stash’ that would mellow me out.” She laughed.

He rolled his eyes, “Hilarious, sweetie. I was thinking of something a little more physical than sitting around, getting high, actually. Something we could do together, as a couple.”

“I can’t imagine what you have in mind. Maybe you could show me. Keep in mind; we have no water or electricity.”

“That’s okay. We don’t really need any water and we can supply our own electricity, Betty.”

She laughed, “I bet. You’re really cheesy sometimes, Daniel, you know that?” 

“Ha! I’ll show you cheesy, girl.” He picked her up, and carried her to the bedroom.

She put her arms around his neck, giggling, “Daniel, we don’t have time for this. We’re supposed to go have lunch with our new neighbors in town in less than an hour, remember? 

The couple that was so nice, walking their baby? We told them we’d be there at four. We have to start getting ready.”

He became more intense with his kisses, “I’ll be quick. This won’t take long, I promise. I’ll have you happy, relaxed, and smiling in less than forty minutes with fifteen minutes to spare.”

She giggled, “You sound like you’re playing pool and calling your shots, Daniel.”

He grinned, “Well, some people are pool sharks. We all are good at something. I have my own skill set.”

“Yes, you do. But please don’t feel like you have to rush. We can be a little late.”

He smiled, standing her up next to the bed, “I see somebody’s finally getting on board.” He deftly unzipped her dress and kissed her shoulder, then ran his hands down the sides of her arms, 

“God, you look good, Betty. We might actually want to see if we can re-schedule. Tell them something uh suddenly came up.”

She giggled, “I’ll say. That much is definitely true.”

Two hours later, they made it to the pub for a late lunch with the neighbors, Jeff and Janice Davert. 

Both Betty and Daniel were rather out of breath, “Sorry, we’re late. We’ve still been having trouble with the renovations. I hope you got our text that we were running late.” Betty breathed out.

Jeff rose as Betty sat down, “No worries. We only arrived a few moments ago ourselves. The nanny was running late, and Jan had to change the little tike’s nappy before we left, then she changed her own outfit three more times.”

She hit Jeff’s arm, “I did not! Get out! Besides, so did you!”

“It’s true. Sorry. We’re just so excited to have neighbors finally. That place has been vacant for a while. And ones that are normal, to boot!”

“Well, I wouldn’t go that far. Daniel’s not really that normal. For that matter, neither am I.” Betty smiled.

“Well, compared to that lot that was living at Kennett Hall before you, I’d say you’re a damn site closer to normal, at least!”

The evening wore on, and both couples laughed about the blue walls, they were sympathetic about Daniel’s illness and the costs and delays of renovations, as well as the ‘interesting’ former tenants, including the cottage resident and his hobbies. 

For their part, Jeff and Jan told Betty and Daniel all about meeting and falling in love, their wedding plans and things that went wrong and the joys and sorrows of having their first child. 

It seemed they had been friends for several years before they decided to begin dating as well, so they had lots in common and got along well.

After a while, though, Daniel felt Betty’s hand on his leg under the table and he gave her a glance, as he put his hand on top of hers, then slid it onto her leg, sliding up her dress halfway up her thigh.

Her eyes caught his and he gave her a grin. She leaned towards him, and whispered, “Maybe we should check and see if we have power and water.”

He nodded, “Maybe we should.” Out loud he told the Daverts, “Uh, we hate to cut the night short, but Betty’s got a lot of packing to do and I’ve still got some paperwork for my college entrance exams.”

Jeff looked at them, smiling, “How long have you two been together?”

“About six weeks.” They both said, grinning at each other.

“Surprised you lasted this long out in public you two randy fools, get on then, go home and check on your bed springs, see if they still work! Enjoy this while you can.”

“You’re sure you don’t mind?” Betty asked, but Daniel was already pulling her away and throwing several bills down on the table.

Jeff shook his head, “Of course not. We understand. We still have a go quite often, even though we’ve been married for three years. Once the little ones come, believe me, finding time isn’t quite so easy. Is it, luv?”

Jan agreed, “That’s certain. She smiled, “Good night, Betty and Daniel. Lovely to have met you both!” 

After Daniel and Betty left, Jeff looked inspired, “Although….we do still have the nanny. Perhaps we could get a room here at the inn?”

She turned to Jeff, and kissed him, “Might as well get our money’s worth. Nice couple. So, shall we?” They both got up and left.

Betty laughed as they headed off from the pub, “Should I drive?”

He shook his head, “No, I’m a faster driver. Besides, I think I need to focus. It’s not that far, but if I let you drive, I’ll probably get carried away and distract you and we’ll end up in a ditch somewhere.”

She giggled, “Well, we could…you know, in the car first. Just to relieve the tension. Otherwise, I might make you run off the road. What makes you think I won’t get carried away and distract you?”

He laughed at her, “I see. Quite a predicament we have ourselves in here. Since we probably still don’t have power or water at the house anyway, we could just stay here at the inn tonight. Enjoy having the luxuries in life, you know? We’re already here.”

Betty nodded, “That’s actually a really good idea, Daniel.”

“Thanks. I have a few good ideas once in a while.”

Betty thought for a moment, “We didn’t bring a change of clothes, but we could grab a couple of tee shirts or something to sleep in at the little tourist shop here and just put these clothes back on tomorrow. Who cares?”

“Sure. Although, you know I sleep in my boxers anyway, so I don’t even need a shirt. And you can sleep in your underwear. Or nothing.” He smiled, nibbling on her neck.

She moaned, as he breathed in her ear, “Mmhmm… I could do that.”

He whispered gruffly, “Let’s get a room.”

She nodded, “Good plan.”


	10. (originally Ch 23)

Chapter 23

Disclaimer: Still don’t own Ugly Betty! 

A/N: This may sound strange, but I swear, every time I hear the new Maroon 5 song, “One More Night” I think of Daniel. Okay, well, maybe it’s understandable and it only goes to prove what a dirty little mind I have. 

But listen to the song next time you hear it on the radio and you’ll know where my head was at when I wrote this and why it’s a little more ‘lemon-ish’ than usual! LOL!

Daniel was breathing hard, as he followed Betty, somewhat (pleasantly) surprised at her initiating things. 

She seemed in a hurry to get to their room, and he was just as anxious to get her alone again.

Having ‘tea’ with the neighbors was a fine little diversion, but especially since he had been given a clean bill of health after his near fatal scare, it seemed all Daniel wanted to do lately was spend time with Betty. It definitely beat trying to oversee the renovations. 

Especially knowing she would be gone for a whole week without him in a few days, back to New York. 

All this was fueling them both to be together as much as possible to make up not only for the time they had lost while he lay fighting for his life in the hospital, but for the four years they now wished had been spent together as well. 

If only they could have back all the time they had both wasted on other people, he thought. If they had just opened their eyes sooner and realized how lucky they were to have each other all along. Yeah, if only…

But now it was like the flood gates had been opened, and neither of them could get enough of the other. 

There simply wasn’t enough time in a twenty-four hour period to learn everything he wanted to know about how to please her, how to show her how she made him feel so much better about himself, how much he loved her, or thinking hopefully about their future together. 

He made no secret where he saw things going with them. Why should he? He had loved her for four years in one way or another. 

They knew each other like they were already there in so many ways…he wasn’t afraid of the taking things to the next level, or even beyond that, but he knew Betty was.

He understood her point of view. She was younger than he was. She still felt she had to make her mark, show the world what she could accomplish. 

He wanted that for himself, too, of course. To prove he could accomplish something that had nothing to do with his last name. 

He just wasn’t sure how he was going to do it exactly, yet. The only thing he knew for sure was; whatever he did, he needed Betty by his side.

As they made it inside the room, he raised his eyebrow as she closed the door behind them, and started removing his tie. 

His crooked grin widened as he saw the desire in her eyes. He liked Betty like this. Sexy, demanding, letting him know how much she wanted him. 

He had to consciously fight to keep his voice low and not sound too much like a hormonal teen when he asked, “Are you um…trying to seduce me or something, Miss Suarez?”

She seemed a little frustrated for a second, by the knot in his tie, but let out a triumphant sigh when she got it, slid it off in one swift movement, throwing it over her shoulder, then immediately started attacking the buttons on his shirt with hands flying fast.

He laughed at her haste, and put his hands on top of hers, reaching over to kiss her fingers, as he whispered gruffly, “Do I get to attack you, too?”

“Soon. You first, though.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He grinned at her barking commands at him. It seemed she was on a mission to have her way with him and who was he to stop her?

She tugged at his shirt and he helped her take it off. His stomach moved in response to her touch as she unzipped his pants.

He tried to hold still while she eyed him, rather like he was her prey. But it was no use; he couldn’t resist evening up the score a little. 

He grabbed at the back of her dress, and unzipped her before she had the chance to object. 

Then, with equal speed and skill, he made quick work of her bra, ran his hands slowly and seductively down her arm, and moved aside her long, dark hair to kiss her neck. 

He pulled her body close, feeling her warmth against him. He slid his hands down her sensuous curves, wanting to take her right then, but trying desperately to take his time, and make this last all night. 

Betty was making that very difficult, however. “Daniel, I want you now.” She whispered as she stepped out of her silk panties and stood just in her heels. 

He had been trying to control himself and take his time, but that little move sent him completely over the edge. 

He nodded without a word and picked her up, pushing her against the wall, while still holding onto her so he wouldn’t hurt her. 

The next few hours went by in a blur of ecstasy and passion for them both, as they tried various furniture out for somewhat unusual leverage and angles, making quite a bit of noise in the process.

After they had worn themselves out thoroughly, laying on the floor, a sweaty mess, both tangled in sheets.

They heard furniture getting scooted around and things being knocked over in the room next to theirs, as well as the unmistakable sounds of someone having sex. 

Betty laughed, “Sounds like we’re not the only ones having a late afternoon delight. You know I didn’t know what that meant until I heard Wilhelmina and that bodyguard of hers?”

“Seriously? You didn’t know what it meant? Hmm…looks like I’ll have to teach you all kinds of fun things, Betty. Although…you seem to have the basics down pretty well, I’d say.

Of course, I’m definitely the best you’ve ever had, right?”

“Somebody sure has a big ego.” She teased.

“Possibly. But it’s not just that. I’ll tell you straight out, you’re definitely the best I’ve ever had, Betty.”

“That’s sweet, but …I find that sort of hard to believe, Daniel. You’ve been with lots of beautiful women.”

“Yeah, I have. And you’re still the best. You know why? Besides, the fact that you’re beautiful, too?”

“Why?” 

He ran his thumb across her bottom lip, staring at her warm brown eyes, “That’s easy. 

Because I’m so crazy in love with you, of course. Sex is all fine and good, but with you…it feels like you know me so well and I know you so that…we just were made to be together, you know?”

“Daniel…” she looked at his amazing eyes, his lips, his great body and part of her couldn’t believe he really felt that way about her. 

Someone so incredible as Daniel was in love with her. It was…well, frankly, amazing! 

They sat on the floor still, facing each other. Daniel stood up, and reached his hand out to help her up, then led her to the bed, with a glint in his eye. 

Betty didn’t know what he had in mind, but his heartfelt words were making her want him even more, if that was possible. 

He sat on the edge of the bed, and pulled her down onto his lap slowly. 

As they started to get more intensified in their own rhythm, they could distinctly hear the voices of the people in the adjoining room, getting a bit vocal.

“Jeff! OH YES!” Daniel’s eyes snapped to Betty’s and her hand clapped over her mouth. “Oh, my God!” she whispered, “It’s Jeff and Jan!”

“Yep, that would be my guess. Crap! Now I’m going to feel like we’re being judged or something if they hear us, too!”

She shrugged, “Believe me, you’ve got nothing to worry about, Daniel. 

Nobody could last as long as you or be as noisy as we get! And what’s great is…I know you’re just getting uh…warmed up.”

He grinned, “So what you’re saying is…I am the best you’ve ever had, too, huh?”

She smiled at him, “I’d have to say so, yes. No need to brag about it, Daniel.”

He raised his eyebrows, “Not bragging, just…enjoying.”

They tried to ignore the sounds coming from the room next door, and actually made an effort to be a bit quieter than normal themselves.

After a while, Daniel asked Betty if she wanted something from the pub downstairs. “I can run down and get us a little snack and some drinks if you want.”

“I think I’ll just have a steak and chips and some water, thanks. I’m really thirsty.”

He grinned, “Wore you out, huh?”

She rolled her eyes, “Possibly. Just go…lover boy. I’m going to take a nice long bath, and enjoy all the hot water.”

“Okay, but take your time, and stay in the tub, so I can join you when I get back.”

“We’ll see.”

He threw on his pants and shirt, leaving it un-tucked and went quickly downstairs to the pub.

As he waited at the bar for their order, he saw Jeff suddenly sit next to him, “So…how’s that paperwork going so far, Daniel? 

Did Betty get all packed? Must have been what I heard her so excited about earlier!” he laughed.

Daniel winced, “Yeah, well…you called it, I guess. Sorry about that. 

I see you two decided to use your babysitter wisely, too, huh? Jan seemed pretty happy to be away from ‘nappy’ duty.” He grinned.

“Yeah, well…you know, we can’t all be Super men, going on for hours, but…just wait, having little ones you have to do what you can whilst you can. 

Sometimes we are just too tired to even think about it, believe it or not! 

I know you can’t imagine that now, believe me, I couldn’t either when we were first married.”

“How long had you two been dating when you got engaged? I know you said you were friends for several years before you started dating.”

“Not long. We just sort of figured out we were perfect for one another and I don’t know, it felt right from the start. 

I think perhaps we only dated a few months before I popped the question.” 

“Really? A few months….wow! That is quick. I think I’m more ready that Betty is, actually. 

I thought of her and you know…kids when I bought the house. But, she seems a little hesitant. 

She wants to work in London for a while and get established.”

“Well, perhaps you can keep working on the house piecemeal and live in London together first, and you can have the house as a getaway for the week-end.

Then…once you’ve got things going well with your relationship, and established your careers a bit more, and you both feel ready, you can think about moving in on a permanent basis and raising children. Bottom line, you’ve got to do what feels right for both of you.”

“Yeah, that’s sort of what I’ve been thinking, too. I don’t know what’s with me wanting to hurry. Maybe just because I’m older than her.

Part of me is afraid she’s going to change her mind about me or something I think, so it’s like I want to do whatever I can to ‘lock her in’, you know?”

“Oh, believe me; I definitely know what you mean, there. I was so afraid Jan was going to change her mind and go running before I got her down the aisle. 

They say men are afraid to commit, but sometimes I think women can be, too.”

Daniel’s order was ready, so he patted Jeff on the back, and leaned forward, “We’ll uh…try to keep it down. I hate to show off for you old fogeys.”

Jeff’s eyes grew big, “Again? Tonight? Good Lord! I’ll be taking a kip, myself. I mean, we’ll probably try and slip in a quick one in the morning perhaps before we leave, but…seriously? 

Maybe I’ll send Jan in to take notes or something later. With a blindfold on of course. I have a feeling I don’t want to be compared in any way.”

Daniel laughed, “Yeah, well, I could see if Betty would go for that, but somehow I doubt it. I’ve already got a bit of a past to live down.”

“I figured as much. I’m surprised Jan didn’t google you.”

Daniel shook his head laughing as he left, “Please don’t! God only knows what’s on there about me. Don’t believe any of it.”

He left, standing outside the door, fishing for his key as he balanced the food. 

He noticed the door wasn’t actually shut tight, so he figured Betty must have known he’d have his hands full. 

She was always thinking of things like that. She was always so kind and sweet. He placed the food on the table and went to pick up a towel off the floor.

He heard the bath going and smiled as he started to strip, pushing the bathroom door open, “Hey, sexy, did you save some hot water for me?”

“Excuse me? Daniel?” his eyes popped as he saw Jan in the bathtub. He had clearly gotten the rooms confused.

“Shit! Uh, oh, crap! Sorry! Wrong room!” he covered his eyes with his hand immediately and backed out. 

“Oh, God! Jan, I’m SO sorry….SHIT! Please tell Jeff this was a total accident. I’m really, REALLY sorry!”

Jan was laughing, as Daniel blushed and scrambled to get his pants back on and grab the food and get back to his own room as quickly as possible before Jeff came in and kicked his ass for assaulting his wife.

Oh my God! Why didn’t he notice the room number before he left? What was he going to tell Betty? Would she even believe him? 

He was hopeful that she would, but after the little joke Jeff had made about sending Jan in…he hoped Jeff would still believe it was an accident!

He shook his head, berating himself for being such an idiot. He used the key and walked in, hearing Betty humming along to her IPod. 

He called out, “Betty?”

“I’m in here. I’m feeling a bit like the Little Mermaid by now. What took so long? Were they crowded? I’m getting all prun-y in here.”

He stepped in hesitantly, “I…sort of did something stupid just now.” He stood sheepishly in the doorway of the bathroom.

She smiled, “What did you do? Wow, it must be bad, you look really embarrassed.”

“Yeah, I…well, I was next door. I had my hands full with the food and I saw the door open, so I thought maybe you had left it open for me and I went inside. But it was Jeff and Jan’s room. 

I don’t know why I didn’t look around a little and notice any of the little things that were probably different about the two rooms.

So, anyway, I really thought it was our room and I started to go in to the bathroom. But it was…Jan in the tub of course.” He bit his lip and closed one eye.

He wasn’t prepared for the reaction he got. Betty laughed, shaking her head, “Oh my God, so…how far did you get?”

“My boxers.”

“And…what did you see?” She was still laughing.

He shook his head, “Nothing, I swear. Her back was turned. 

I just saw the back of her head, then she turned and laughed at me, sort of like you’re doing now. I just hope Jeff will think it’s funny.


	11. (Originally  Ch 24)

The time came much too quickly for Betty and Daniel to say goodbye. Daniel held her close, as she left him to go through security at the airport. 

“I’ll see you next week. I love you.”

He leaned his head against hers, “I love you, too. I wish I could go with you. But, I know you’re going to be really busy helping Hilda, anyway. Listen, if you’re too tied up, I can have my mom meet me when I get back to New York, if you want.”

She shook her head, “Don’t be silly, Daniel. Believe me, by next week, I’ll be really anxious to get away from Hilda for any excuse. 

Picking my boyfriend up from the airport is good enough for me. Besides, I’ll be going crazy by then to see you.”

He smiled, and leaned forward to kiss her, “Me, too. Call me as soon as you land, okay? I don’t care what time it is. I’ll be waiting for your call.”

She nodded, holding her arms around his neck, “Okay. The minute I’m on the ground. I promise.”

He nodded, and forced a smile, and mouthed, “I love you, Betty,” patting her on the behind as he started to let her leave.

She mouthed back, “I love you, Daniel.” blowing him a kiss as she turned away.

She walked about a hundred yards then stopped and turned around, yelling, “Daniel!” He turned back around and grinned as she ran back to him, and jumped on him, kissing him passionately.

They kissed for several minutes before she got down and smiled, “Stay in your own bathroom till I see you again, okay?”

He nodded, shaking his head, “Very funny! I promise. And you, no flirting with any of the guys in the wedding party. Be a good girl. Tell Hilda no crazy bachelorette parties with male strippers. Got that?”

“Aww, you’re no fun! Just kidding. Yes, sir.” She grinned, “Bye, sweetie.”

“Bye.”

Once Betty got on the plane, she texted him, telling him to make sure and check on the residence in London and to give Laura charge over the construction crew at the house to step things up.

“You’re too nice.” She wrote. 

“Only to you.” He wrote back, “I kick ass when I have to. I held my own against Wilhelmina all this time, remember.”

“With my help.”

“That’s true. I miss you already. Have a safe flight. Now turn off your phone before they put you on the no fly list and you have to take the private plane with me next week and Hilda kills you!”

He told the driver he needed to make a few stops in town before he took him to the residence for Meade executives.

“Stop here first; I’ll be out in about an hour or so, then I need to go to the Meade Publications building in Mayfair.”

Once he went in to the Meade UK building he saw where Betty’s new office was going to be. He wondered if he saw himself working in his family business here in London. 

He would still see her, but not as much unless they made time for lunches or secret rendezvous. 

He had learned how to run a magazine. He was fairly familiar with the magazines in these offices and had some interest in the entertainment publication he knew was doing well here. 

Music and movies were always a hot topic and he could bring his own twist to it, bringing his background knowledge of fashion, too. 

Even though he had walked away from Mode to try and establish himself away from his family name, it was still away from New York, away from everything his father had thrown him into. 

He’d still have to work hard to prove himself here, just like he would anywhere else.

And in this economy, maybe it wasn’t such a terrible thing to have a bit of a safety net like his name on the building, after all, he thought, wryly. Just in case he hadn’t learned enough from his four years at Mode or once he had his MBA under his belt.

“Mr. Meade. It’s lovely to meet you in person finally. Please, do come in. Glad you could make it. Let’s have a word.” The current CEO, George Williams led Daniel into his office.

The week flew by for both of them in many ways, at least at during the days. Betty was frantically trying to make up for lost time helping her sister put the finishing touches on her dream wedding. 

Daniel had his hands full, spending most of his time in London, but still communicating with Laura and the construction crew at Kennett to make sure they understood that he needed things completed in a timely manner and correctly.

The nights were the worst for both. Telephone sex was a bust, even with video chat; it lost something in the translation. 

So, they settled for some very heated conversations about their reunion, but mostly tried to keep the topics to Hilda’s wedding and things in London, plans for the immediate future when they both returned.

“So, does everybody know about us, yet?”

“Well, it’s been weird not going in to Mode since I’ve been back, but I plan to go the day after the wedding to clean out my things there and say goodbye to everyone, so I guess I’ll see then what they’ve heard through the rumor mill.”

“Great, I can come with you, then.”

 

“That sounds really wonderful. I can’t wait to see you again. I miss you.”  
“I’ll be leaving in two more days. I’ve just got a few more loose ends to wrap up here. So, is Hilda already driving you crazy?”

“Sort of, but…I kind of am savoring it at the same time, telling myself I know how much I’m going to miss her.”

“Yeah, I bet. We can always fly back as much as you want, though, remember. And we can bring them here for holidays or vacations, too.”

“I know. I just want to be on the same continent as you now, Daniel. I miss you.”

“I miss you, too. I’ll be there before you know it. Hang in there. Listen, I may just come straight to the wedding since my stupid doctor’s appointment got re-scheduled. He said I’m fine to fly now, but it put me behind on time. So, I’ll see you there, okay?”

“Okay. I’ll be wearing a green dress.”

“I think I’ll recognize you. Hopefully you haven’t forgotten what I look like, either.” He teased.

“Not likely. Gorgeous, sexy, great blue eyes. Cute butt.”

He laughed, “Yep, that’s me. If you want extra entertainment for the reception, I could always walk in and drop my pants. That always seems to be good for a laugh.”

“No way. You only drop them for me from now on.”

“Ditto for you, Miss Suarez. Green dress. Big boobs, sexy butt. I’ll be looking for you, too, sweetie.”

She laughed, “See you tomorrow.”

The day of Hilda’s wedding was exciting, sweet and totally wonderful. 

The limo arrived, and Hilda got out, kissing her father and Elena, complaining about being hungry, then in her typical irreverent fashion told everyone, “Now, let’s do this bitch!” making them all laugh.

Betty followed her sister out, but she stopped as she saw Daniel, staring at her, with a goofy smile as he spotted her.

His voice sounded deep and filled with emotion, “You look…great.”

“Thanks.” She practically whispered.

He led her inside, placing his hand on the small of her back. Once they got in the building, Daniel grinned and pulled her to a little alcove and picked her up, then kissed her deeply. 

“Hey, beautiful. No fair, you’re not supposed to upstage the bride, you know.”

She smiled, hugging him. “God, I missed you.”

“I like the new glasses.”

“They’re from Justin and Hilda. Justin said I couldn’t go to my new job in London with ugly glasses. I did get contacts, too. But I was too nervous to put them in today.”

“Yeah, well, like I said, you’ve got to give poor Hilda a chance. Today is supposed to be her day, after all.”

She smiled, “You’re sweet, Daniel. But you know we don’t have time for…uh, anything right now. We’ll just have to wait till late tonight, after the wedding and reception.”

“I know. That doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy for either of us.”

He held her by her arms, “Are you okay? It sounds like you’ve been running around like crazy, Betty.”

“I’m great, Daniel. Are you okay? No jet-lag?”

“I’m fine, Betty. Don’t be so overprotective! Geez, you and my mom!”

“Daniel, you almost died.”

“I know, I know. I’m really good now, though. I swear. I just have a lot on my mind.”

“I know you, Daniel. Something’s up.”

“You think you know me so well. I missed you. I’m just happy to see you. That’s all that’s ‘wrong’, I swear.”

She giggled, “Sorry. Okay, I’ve got to go, sweety. I’ll see you after the wedding. Save me a dance.” She kissed him briefly on the cheek.

“I’m all yours tonight. As soon as you have time for me.”

“Believe me, Daniel, for you, I’ll make time.”

He nodded towards Hilda, waving to her, “Go, before your sister starts having a meltdown. I’ll see you after the ceremony.”

She nodded at first, but then went back and hugged him again, “I’m so glad you’re here!”

He grinned, “Me, too, babe. I love you.”

“I love you.” She bit her lower lip, then smiled at him, and went off to see to Hilda.

He watched her in awe as she stood at the altar. She seemed so serene and he’d never seen her look more beautiful (at least, not with her clothes on).

At the reception, he kept trying to get close to Betty, but she was very busy. Finally, he went to get some champagne, and he stood, watching Betty have a serious-looking conversation with Justin.

Betty spotted him, and waved him over, but just as he started to join them, Hilda grabbed the mic and started to speak, so he held up his finger that he would wait till she was done.

Hilda’s words hit him. “…but that’s love, right? When you know someone better than they know themselves and you would do anything to protect them.” Daniel looked at Betty, knowing that’s exactly what they had.

Once Hilda had finished her speech, he stepped over to Betty and Justin, “Can I uh…throw you around the floor a little?”

Betty looked to Justin, “Do you mind?” Justin shook his head and smiled at his aunt and Daniel, then looked over at Austin, clearly getting up his nerve.

After they had been dancing only a short time, Betty nodded to Daniel that Justin had felt comfortable enough to dance with Austin in public.

Daniel looked as though he wanted to say something, so Betty asked, “What?”

He shook his head, smiling, “Nothing. I was just thinking.”

“Hmm…getting smarter all the time, huh?” she teased.

He rolled his eyes, “Ha, ha. Hey, I’ve still got my pants on. At least, so far.”

She grinned, then noticed her family all hugging and getting along well. “You know, I keep thinking I’ve got to take care of them, but…just look at them. They don’t need me to do that anymore.”

Daniel smiled, “It’s a great feeling…when everything’s right in the world. Isn’t it?“

She nodded, leaning against him as they continued to dance.

Unbeknownst to Betty, her family had all started watching them closely, grinning and whispering. Daniel glanced at their table and nodded and the band started playing a song that sounded familiar to Betty.

She smiled at him, pulling away slightly, “Did you request that song, Daniel?”

He nodded, “Guilty.

She heard the lyrics to Lifehouse’s ‘Hanging By a Moment.”

I'm falling even more in love with you  
Letting go of all I've held on to  
I'm standing here until you make me move  
I'm hanging by a moment here with you

Forgetting all I'm lacking, completely incomplete  
I'll take your invitation, you take all of me now

I'm falling even more in love with you  
Letting go of all I've held on to  
I'm standing here until you make me move  
I'm hanging by a moment here with you  
I'm living for the only thing I know  
I'm running and not quite sure where to go  
And I don't know what I'm diving into  
Just hanging by a moment here with you

 

She looked at him suspiciously, “What’s going on, Daniel?”

She saw the floor had cleared, as he held her hand, and he dropped to one knee. Everyone there was watching. Many people looked surprised, except for the Suarez family.

He took out a ring and Betty gasped, “Oh my God! Daniel!”

“I had to clear this with Hilda and your family, because I didn’t want to rain on her parade here, but I also didn’t want to deprive them of seeing your reaction or…whisk you off to a foreign country and propose to you. 

So, Hilda and Bobby were in on this, and of course your dad, since I had to ask his permission anyway.”

Betty, I love you more than I thought it was ever possible to love someone. You make me so happy, even when you yell at me or look at me like I’m crazy, because I know it all means you love me, too.

This past week and a half has been the longest ten days of my life. I know without a shadow of a doubt, I can’t live without you, so…please don’t make me. 

I followed you to London and back here. And I’ll keep following you wherever you go, because I need you and I always will. Please be my wife. 

We can get married today or next month or in six months…whenever you like. I just know I want to marry you.”


End file.
